On February 13, 2021, Texas got a taste of snow like none other, experiencing once in a lifetime power, water, and food shortages that led to increased deaths, awareness for updating .

Beginning in the second week of February, Texans began to see freezing temperatures and icy roads as a storm that originated in the Pacific Northwest made its way down south.

Texans ranging from El Paso to San Antonio experienced power and water outages, as well as food shortages.

Grocery stores ran out of basic necessities such as food, bottled water, and toilette paper the week before Winter Storm Uri hit.

The biggest impact from this storm was the Texas power outage, with some citizens experiencing power outages at all hours.

Old and young people alike were left without heating and means to cook as the Texas power grid was not equipped to handle severe weather.

Lawmakers and regulators knew of the weaknesses of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, power grid that would expose its fragility, after the power generators failed dozens of times.

According to the Texas Tribune, upwards of 4.5 million customers lost power across the state, however, El Paso had a different outcome.

El Pasoans experienced very few outages after another powerful winter storm that effectively shut down the city in 2011 taught them a lesson.

After the 2011 storm, El Paso city officials invested millions into infrastructure changes that would update their water and power grid systems, according to ABC news.

As a result of these updates, El Paso was no longer apart of the ERCOT grid that lost power for millions of citizens.

Only about 3,000 customers lost power for less than 10 minutes during the storm.

Senior Saralie Buendia said, “It was crazy seeing other parts of Texas suffer from the freeze while most of us had running water an electricity.”

Unlike other parts of Texas, El Paso kept their water and electricity, only enduring icy roads and freezing temperatures.

Back in other parts of the state, 8.7 million Texans were placed on a boil water notice, forcing individuals to gather snow and boil it whenever there was electricity, as there was no running water.

College campuses and high schools cancelled classes across the state, as electricity outages caused no internet for millions of students.

Buendia said, “The only downside to the city’s updates was that we still had school while the rest of the state shut down.”

Due to the extreme weather, Texas officials suspect up to 40 deaths occurred as a result of hypothermia, carbon monoxide poisoning, and crashes on frozen roads.

As Texans froze in their homes, Senator Ted Cruz (R) faced severe backlash after being seen on footage leaving to Cancun with his family for a weekend getaway.

After severe media and constituent backlash, Cruz headed back to Texas to show his support to his voters in their most vulnerable time.

Cruz said, “It was obviously a mistake, and in hindsight I wouldn’t have done it.”

As the storm came to a close, Texans and Texan legislators realized the penalties of not updating the power grid and froze in the process.

Gov. Greg Abbott has since made a pledge to dedicate more attention to updating the system that sent millions into frozen shock for nearly two weeks.