The death toll from the Texas winter storms keeps rising. At least 151 people died, from causes ranging from hypothermia to carbon monoxide poisoning.

• At least 151 people died during the Texas winter storms earlier this year, officials said.
• Millions of Texans lost power, heat, and clean drinking water during the storms, some for days.
• Texas had been warned on multiple occasions in the past to winterize its power plants.

At least 151 people died in a span of three weeks during the extreme winter storms in Texas, officials said this week.

That number, reported by the Texas Department of State and Health Services, has continued to rise as officials collect more information about the aftermath of the storms. Those deaths all occurred between February 11 and March 5.

Hypothermia, caused by prolonged exposure to the cold, was the primary cause of death.

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Devastating winter storms and extreme cold swept through Texas in February, causing a failure in the state's power grid, which was not equipped to function fully under those conditions. Demand for heat surged and the state's grid couldn't meet demand, causing power plants to go dark.

Millions of Texans lost power and heat during the storms, some for multiple days. Millions were also left without clean drinking water, prompting them to have to boil it, which some couldn't do without power. Photos and videos shared online showed long lines of people waiting to enter stores, some to stock up on water and groceries, others to escape the cold.

Other than hypothermia, officials said other causes of death during the storms included car accidents, carbon monoxide poisoning, exacerbation of chronic illness, falls, and fires.

According to ProPublica, the storms led to the worst carbon monoxide poisoning event in recent US history. The outlet reported many Texans sat in running cars in their garages in order to get some respite from the cold, unintentionally filling their garage and home with carbon monoxide in a state that does not require people to have detectors for the dangerous gas.

More than 1,400 people arrived at medical centers for carbon monoxide poisoning during the Texas blackouts, the outlet reported, which is just 400 shy of the 2020 total. At least 11 deaths have been confirmed. ProPublica found that Black, Hispanic, and Asian Texans were more likely to have been affected by carbon monoxide poisoning during the storms.

The intense winter storms were rare for the southern state, but not unprecedented. Texas experienced extreme cold events in 1989 and 2011 that disrupted its power grid and was warned on both occasions that it needed to winterize its power plants. Government regulators made specific recommendations, but they were not mandatory.

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