Texas disaster: Polar vortex plunges Lone Star state into wintry nightmare without power, water and answers Larry McShane It was the winter weather nightmare nobody in Texas saw coming, a Lone Star catastrophe of unprecedented power outages and failed water systems and a still-rising death toll of at least two dozen. At the nadir of the deep freeze that began last Sunday, 4 million Texans lost electricity as the statewide power grid teetered and nearly collapsed — dodging by seconds a nightmare scenario of widespread blackouts lasting for months. The state’s water supply became compromised, with 7 million Texans still instructed Saturday to boil tap water before use.