AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) released its sixth and final report on Winter Storm Uri, which slammed the Lone Star State in February 2021.
The State added 36 more deaths to the report for a total of 246 people who died as a result of the storm. The deaths happened across 77 Texas counties.
Travis County experienced the second most deaths (28), less than only Harris County (43). Other Austin-area counties that suffered deaths were Williamson, (6), Burnet (2), Bastrop (1), Fayette (1), Lee (1) and Llano counties (1).
According to the report, among 244 of the people who had residency information, 229 of the victims were Texas residents and 15 lived in other states or countries.
The DSHS identified and analyzed deaths that were indirectly, directly or possibly attributable to the storm, the report said. One-hundred-sixty-one (65.4%) of the winter storm-related deaths were extreme cold exposure-related injuries. Of those, 158 were from hypothermia and three were from frostbite, the report said.
The ages of the victims, according to the report, ranged from less than one to 102 years old.
During February's major winter storms, millions of Texans lost power for days and the state's energy grid came within minutes of total collapse. That led to other problems, like boil water notices and food scarcity at grocery stores.
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: