![]() ![]() Lawmakers introduced a slew of bills aimed at overhauling the state’s electric grid after the storm, which had its most devastating effects from Feb. That choice caps more than a decade of ignored warnings and inaction that resulted in Texas being one of just six states with no statewide requirement for carbon monoxide alarms in homes, ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and NBC News found.īut in Texas, where top lawmakers often promote personal responsibility over state mandates, efforts to pass similar carbon monoxide requirements have repeatedly failed. In the aftermath of the unprecedented wave of poisonings two months ago, Texas lawmakers have taken few steps to protect residents from future carbon monoxide catastrophes. Neil Hampson, a retired doctor who has spent more than 30 years researching carbon monoxide poisoning and prevention. In their desperation, thousands of Texans unwittingly unleashed deadly gases into homes and apartments that, in many cases, were not equipped with potentially lifesaving carbon monoxide alarms, resulting in the country’s “biggest epidemic of CO poisoning in recent history,” according to Dr. Many brought charcoal grills inside or ran cars in enclosed spaces, either unaware of the dangers or too cold to think rationally. Annie Mulligan / for NBC News / ProPublica / The Texas TribuneĪfter the power flicked off in millions of homes across Texas during the state’s historic freeze in mid-February, families like Bekele’s faced an impossible choice: risk hypothermia or improvise to keep warm. Shalemu Bekele during an interview at his church in Houston. As the engine hummed, it provided power to run the car’s heater and charge her phone while she talked to a friend in Colorado - at the same time, filling her garage and home with a poisonous gas.īekele fainted next, landing with a thud on the garage’s concrete floor as the car continued to run. Desperate to warm up, she went into their attached garage and turned the key to start her car. Shalemu Bekeleīekele’s wife, Etenesh Mersha, 46, meanwhile, made a fateful decision, one repeated by scores of Texas residents who lost electricity that week. Shalemu Bekele's children, Beimnet, left, and Rakaeb enjoy the snow on the morning of Feb. After a few minutes, he sent them back inside to warm up under blankets as he cleared ice off his car, unsure if he would be expected to drive into work. “It was beautiful,” Bekele, 51, recalled thinking as he headed outside to snap photos of his two children, ages 7 and 8, playing in their first snow. 15, the townhouse he shared with his wife and two children was so cold, his fingers felt numb.Īfter bundling up in extra layers, Bekele looked out a frosted window: A winter storm had swept across Texas, knocking out power to millions of homes, including his own, and blanketing Houston in a thin layer of icy snow. HOUSTON - When Shalemu Bekele awoke on the morning of Feb. ![]()
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