A Texas mayor resigned after telling people it was their own fault if they froze when power went out in the deadly winter storms

• A Texas mayor resigned after saying it was people's own fault if they froze in the deadly storm.
• Mayor Tim Boyd of Colorado City said not to expect help and "Only the strong will survive."
• The storm has been blamed for more than 20 deaths and has cut off power to millions.

The mayor of a Texas city resigned after telling people it was their own fault if they were suffering from the vast loss of electricity in the state this week amid a historic cold snap.

Tim Boyd, the mayor of Colorado City, accused his constituents of looking for a "handout" as power went out across the state. He encouraged residents with no water to "think outside the box to survive."

The outburst came in a since-deleted Facebook post that included numerous misspellings.

It said: "No one owes you are your family anything; nor is it the local government's responsibility to support you during trying times like this! Sink of swim it's your choice!"

He said later in the post: "I'm sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout! If you don't have electricity you step up and come up with a game plan to keep your family warm and safe.

"If you have no water you deal without and think outside the box to survive and supply water to your family.

"If you are sitting at home in the cold because you have no power and are sitting there waiting for someone to come rescue you because your lazy is direct result of your raising.

"Only the strong will survive and the weak will parish."

Here is the full post:

At least 20 people had died in connection to the storms as of early Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.

Boyd resigned Tuesday. According to Fox News, he said in a Facebook post: "I would never want to hurt the elderly or anyone that is in true need of help to be left to fend for themselves.

"I was only making the statement that those folks that are too lazy to get up and fend for themselves but are capable should not be dealt a handout. I apologize for the wording and some of the phrases that were used!"

Freezing temperatures across many US states have left people battling ice and snow and have caused severe power outages.

Texas is seeing some of its coldest temperatures in more than 30 years, the BBC reported.

Millions of homes and businesses in Texas were without power Tuesday.

Some of the deaths were directly linked to efforts to try to get warm. The Houston police said a woman and a girl died of carbon-monoxide poisoning after trying to use their car to generate heat.