Biden approves disaster declaration for Texas
US President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Texas on Saturday as the state struggles with the fallout from a winter storm that killed at least two dozen people and caused widespread blackouts and water shortages.
Millions of residents in the United States’ biggest oil and gas producer have had to contend with days of electricity outages, and nearly half of all Texans are still suffering from disruptions to their water service.
Lina Hidalgo, the top elected official in Harris County, which encompasses Houston, said on Friday authorities were reporting 10 deaths due to hypothermia. Officials said an accurate death toll will take time to establish.
The action by the Biden administration makes federal funding available to affected individuals, including assistance for temporary housing and home repairs and low-cost loans.
Biden is also weighing a trip to Texas to survey the federal response to the first new crisis to develop since he took office a month ago. The White House is working closely with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who did not initially acknowledge Biden’s November election win. Abbott thanked the president for approving the major disaster declaration, saying in a statement that it was “an important first step.” But, he added, individual assistance had only been approved for 77 counties, not all the state’s 254 counties as he had requested.
With all power plants back online, millions of Texans were finally able to turn on the lights and heat their homes again. However, outages persisted and more than 78,000 homes remained without electricity as of Saturday morning.
With the weather set to improve and temperatures expected to return to normal in coming days, the main concern has shifted from power to water.
More than 1,200 public water systems have reported service disruptions, many of them leading to “boil water” notices, said Gary Rasp, a spokesman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. He said 14.3 million people in 190 counties were affected as of Saturday morning.
Toby Baker, TCEQ’s executive director, said the agency will do a full review of the regulations governing the state’s water systems.
CATERING businesses across Jiading are implementing measures to ensure that food is traceable after Shanghai issued novel coronavirus prevention and control guidelines.
“We are stricter in the choice of food, especially those imported cold-chain products,” said Yang Yuanfu who owns a restaurant in IMIX Park shopping center.
“We have been strictly reviewing raw material suppliers,” said a chain store operator surnamed Li. “In addition, our fish supplier in Zhongshan City in Guangdong Province also checks the fish according to local regulations. After the checks, the food can be sent to Shanghai, and we will also publish the check results of every batch on the wall inside the restaurant.”
To ensure food safety, some restaurant employees in Jiading have been vaccinated in addition to regular temperature checks.
The city’s commerce commission has released a series of measures covering places where crowds could gather.
They clarify that people in charge of shopping malls and supermarkets should bear the major responsibility for COVID19 prevention and control, said Liu Min, deputy director of the commission.
Businesses are also encouraged to reserve appropriate anti-epidemic materials, have more temperature-measuring equipment and establish emergency areas.
The commission is also asking merchants to strictly implement regulations on imported cold-chain food, carry out prevention and control measures and never sell it without completing all administrative procedures.
And it is asking catering companies to strengthen management of food ingredients. They should strictly implement the system of incoming inspection and ticket collection to ensure traceability.
The selection of raw material suppliers, food processing, the washing and disinfection equipment of tableware and processing utensils shall comply with relevant food safety provisions.