by News Editor, Kaliya Trias
Although the winter storm that swept across the nation is slowly coming to an end, the effects regarding the lack of electricity and running water continue to leave many residing in the state of Texas in need of aid. The power grid, managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, failed during the storm causing over 3.5 million power outages.
New York state representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (commonly known as AOC) utilized ActBlue, a democratic non-profit platform for virtual fundraising for the residents of Texas enduring what is being called “The Texas Freeze.” In just a few days since its announcement, over five million dollars has been raised for the recovery of the southern state.
“When disaster strikes, this is not just an issue for Texans; this is an issue for our entire country,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “And our whole country needs to come and rally together behind the needs of Texans all across this state.”
Along with the virtual aid aspect, AOC also traveled to the state to volunteer with democratic Texas representatives Sylvia Garcia and Sheila Jackson Lee at the Houston Food Bank. These political representatives along with other volunteers distributed supplies and filled boxes for Texans.
"We're going to work hard to bring the dollars necessary to Texas and to Houston. So we all have a full recovery," Garcia said.
Families within Texas continue to struggle as the relief and aid provided by the state politicians was limited.
“I don’t know if i’ve seen visible change from that firsthand but seeing her raise money for Texas while Ted Cruz was going on vacation and Greg Abbot tried to blame the electric grid failures on wind turbines was infuriating,” Texas resident and student Pavle Bajic said. “My house was without water, power, or heat for almost a week and at one point it was less than 40 degrees inside so seeing a politician like AOC actually do something concrete…was a relief.”
With the fall in cases, Texas has now opened up their state with businesses being allowed to operate at 100% capacity. Along with that, the electric bills within the state have been paused as thousands of dollars worth of costs hit Texans.
AOC continues to report on the standings within Texas and her opinions regarding the decisions being made.
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