February 20, 2021

Biden Declares Major Disaster In Texas

The move frees up federal funding to those affected by the storm.

Evan Vucci/AP

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President Joe Biden has declared a major disaster in Texas after a severe winter storm caused the power grid to fail, leaving millions in the dark and without access to potable water. The move provides federal funding to those affected by the storm.

As of Saturday, thousands were still without power and millions more without water or under boil notices. Now that federal aid is available, individuals and business owners can apply for federal emergency aid for home repairs or temporary housing. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has already been in Texas and surrounding states providing food, supplies, water, and generators. 

Experts say that Texas’ power grid failed in the storm because officials failed to prepare for climate change, which can cause the type of extreme weather the South saw last week. “The extreme weather events that we’re experiencing this week…do yet again demonstrate to us that climate change is real and it’s happening now,” Liz Sherwood-Randall, a White House adviser, told reporters this week. “And we’re not adequately prepared for it.”

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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