When Will the Lights (And Heat) Go Back on in Dallas?
An unprecedented winter storm has left more than 1 million North Texans without power.
By Peter Simek
Published in
FrontBurner
February 16, 2021
3:27 pm
Overnight at DFW Airport, the temperature dropped to -2 degrees. It was the lowest recorded temperature in North Texas since 1949. More than 1.2 million North Texans lost power in rolling blackouts, turning a historic winter weather emergency into a potential humanitarian crisis. On Monday evening, the city of Dallas opened the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center as an emergency warming center days after the same facility had been used as a COVID-19 vaccination hub by the city.
Dallas officials urging residents to stay home or seek shelter as winter storm rolls on
Trucks begin treating roads, and convention center open to people needing shelter
Traffic on Texas 114 TEXpress near MacArthur Blvd Winter flurries arrive in Irving on Sunday, February 14, 2021 ahead of major snowstorm. (Lola Gomez/The Dallas Morning News)(Lola Gomez / Staff Photographer)
Dallas authorities are urging residents to stay off the roads unless necessary as the winter storm created dangerous conditions Sunday. People who need shelter were told to get to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center downtown if possible.
About 70 trucks were deployed Saturday to lay down a mixture that includes sand and salt on major streets and intersections around Dallas, said city spokesperson Anastasia Reed. The Texas Department of Transportation and North Texas Tollway Authority have also been working to treat local highways and toll roads.