Widespread power outages in Texas are forcing people to take risky steps to heat their homes, leading to hundreds of carbon monoxide poisonings and at least two deaths. Learn more about CO poisoning and how to keep your family safe.
Deaths From Carbon Monoxide Rise Amid Winter Storms
Feb. 18, 2021 Poison control centers in Texas are receiving hundreds of calls for potential carbon monoxide poisoning as residents try to stay warm during power outages. Several deaths have been reported, according to NBC News.
In Houston, two adults and two children used their car to create heat and got carbon monoxide poisoning. A woman and an 8-year-old girl died, and a man and a 7-year-old boy were rushed to a hospital for treatment. Their names have not been released, the news outlet reported.
“Initial indications are that the car was running in the attached garage to create heat as the power is out,” the Houston Police Department told the news outlet.
Carbon monoxide poisonings spike in winter storm-battered Texas By: CNN
By Maria Morava and Saeed Ahmed, CNN (CNN) Power outages in Texas have forced many to seek warmth in unconventional ways.
People are using their grills, cars and generators to heat their homes and carbon monoxide poisonings are spiking because of it.
As of Tuesday, at least 300 cases and two fatalities related to carbon monoxide were reported in Harris County, according to Judge Lina Hidalgo in an update from the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Hidalgo called the poisonings a disaster within a disaster, adding that the numbers coming out of Harris County are just the tip of the iceberg.
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