Houston Woman, Child Die While Trying to Stay Warm

8 others suffer carbon monoxide poisoning amid historic storm in Texas
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 16, 2021 11:49 AM CST
Houston Woman, Child Die While Trying to Stay Warm
Shrubbery around Dallas is covered in ice as a winter storm brings snow and freezing temperatures to North Texas on Monday.   (Lola Gomez/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

Ahead of a historic storm, KBMT in Beaumont, Texas, warned residents about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning, which killed a dozen people in Texas and Louisiana amid last year's Hurricane Laura. The notice apparently wasn't enough. Ninety miles west in Houston, a woman and her 8-year-old daughter were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning on Tuesday, per KTRK. Police said a car had been running in a garage attached to a condo "to create heat" because the power was out. The brutal storm left 4 million Texans without power amid record-low temperatures, per NBC News. The woman was in her car speaking on the phone to a relative when she passed out, per KTRK. Her daughter was found inside the condo. A man and 7-year-old boy also found at the scene were rushed to the hospital for treatment.

A day earlier, six members of a Houston family, including four children ages 5 to 10, were treated for carbon monoxide poisoning after using a charcoal grill to heat their apartment for four hours, per KLTV. The outlet reported one adult and one child were in critical condition. "Please remember to never heat your home with a grill or oven" and "never run a generator … inside your home," tweeted Cy-Fair Fire, which responded to the incident. "These produce carbon monoxide, which is a deadly, colorless, and odorless gas." Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo sent out a similar warning after Tuesday's deaths, which bring the storm's death toll across multiple states to 25. "This is so heartbreaking," Acevedo wrote. The CDC notes fuel-burning appliances must be ventilated and every home should have a carbon monoxide detector. (More on the storm here.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X