Texans are sharing their harrowing accounts of water shortages, burst pipes, and flooded homes as millions remain without power

• The state of Texas is getting pummeled by unusually cold winter storms.
• Millions have been left without heat or safe drinking water, and burst pipes are flooding homes.
• Texans have been sharing photos and videos documenting their experiences.

Winter storms have left millions of Texans without power or safe drinking water, sometimes for days, and many are sharing their dramatic accounts online.

As unusually cold weather pummels the state, about 2.8 million households were without power or heat as of Wednesday morning.

By midday Wednesday, about 7 million people were under notices to boil their water before drinking it or using it to cook, while 264,000 people live in locations with water systems that are not working, NBC reported.

Many people have been dealing with burst pipes and water-main breaks, causing severe flooding in some homes and apartments.

One video shared by a reporter at Houston's ABC13 showed people lining up in a public park to fill buckets with water.

One person on Twitter said she had no power or water and shared a photo of a plastic grocery bag in the bowl of a toilet - toilets cannot flush without water.

On TikTok, one user in Houston posted a video of pipes leaking water all over a computer setup.

A reporter in Dallas shared a video of an apartment complex after frozen pipes burst and flooded the inside.

Another video showed water rushing down from apartment balconies.

A Twitter user in Houston said she had waited in line for an hour to buy food and water only for the store's power to go out while she was checking out. She said the store would not accept cash, forcing them to leave their items.

The same user said she was under an advisory to boil water but couldn't do so because she had not had power for three days.

Sarah Asch, a reporter with the Austin American-Statesman, shared that she'd set up an all-seasons tent in her living room to stay warm.

The extreme cold across the region has been tied to the deaths of at least 20 people.