HELPING TEXANS

Freezing weather and power outages continue in Texas today after President Biden declared the state a natural disaster area. Activists and various organizations, especially in Austin, are asking for help.

Austin Mutual Aid is booking hotel rooms for residents living outside without water. Likewise, Maximizing Hope is raising money to purchase hotel rooms for people in the Austin area. In Dallas, area organizations like the Austin Street Center are pooling resources to pay for temporary shelter as well as COVID-19 rapid tests.

The Austin Area Urban League is holding an emergency donation drive.

The Ending Community Homelessness Coalition has created a list of organizations currently working to support unsheltered people in Austin and Travis County.

World Central Kitchen’s Relief Team and partner restaurants have been providing meals to seniors and overflow warming centers in Houston and are now expanding efforts to other Texas cities.

The state has set up 135 warming centers as the weather is expected to stay cold with the arrival of another storm today that will affect the country from the Rio Grande to the Northeast.

Nearly 600,000 households are still without power and the lack of clean water is a growing concern. Almost 7 million people in Texas are being advised to boil water before consuming it.