President Biden traveled to Texas on Friday to survey the injury and restoration efforts after a extreme winter storm and energy outages that left dozens useless.

Mr. Biden and first woman Jill Biden met with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. John Cornyn, each Republicans, in Houston earlier than visiting an emergency operations heart and meals financial institution. Later, they have been to cease at NRG Stadium, a mass COVID-19 vaccination website.

The state’s different senator, Republican Ted Cruz, didn’t be a part of them. Mr. Cruz spoke as an alternative Friday on the annual CPAC convention in Orlando, Florida.

No less than 40 individuals in Texas died because of the storm, and greater than 1 million residents are nonetheless beneath orders to boil water earlier than consuming it. Tens of millions of residents misplaced warmth and electrical energy when the storm overloaded the state’s vitality grid, inflicting pipes to freeze.

A White Home official mentioned presidential catastrophe declarations in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Kansas have resulted within the Federal Emergency Administration Company delivering greater than 2 million meals, 2 million gallons of water and 60 mills to numerous communities.

Deputy Nationwide Safety Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall additionally mentioned the deep-freeze storm was not “an remoted occasion,” suggesting local weather change is accountable.

“The impacts replicate our shared vulnerabilities by way of excessive climate occasions and different threats, and the necessity for collective motion to modernize our vital infrastructure throughout the nation,” she mentioned.