At the moment when his State is in the grip of an unprecedented and deadly cold wave, he enjoys the sun in the Mexican seaside resort of Cancun. Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz faced heavy criticism Thursday, February 18, after local newspaper revelations Dallas Morning News.
Supporting photos, the newspaper says that the conservative flew the day before, with his family, from the Houston airport to the Yucatan peninsula, abandoning his voters in the midst of an unprecedented crisis. More than 250,000 homes still remained without electricity Thursday, the polar temperatures having caused a surge in electricity consumption.
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“I wanted to be a good father”
In a press release, the senator justified himself by explaining that “Like millions of Texans [s]his family had been deprived of electricity and heating ”.
“With schools suspended for the week, our daughters asked to go away for a few days with friends. I wanted to be a good father, I accompanied them [mercredi] evening and I take the plane again this afternoon. “
“Like my team, I am in constant contact with local officials to determine what happened in Texas”, he continued.
The one who had for a time been given the mocking nickname of Lyin’Ted (“Ted the liar”) by the former President of the United States, Donald Trump, was quickly given a new nickname on Twitter: Flyin’Ted ( “Ted the wheel”).
In a radio interview on Monday, Cruz warned residents of his state of serious weather disruptions to come, stressing that they could claim many lives. ” Do not take any risk. Make sure your family is safe, don’t leave your home and take care of your children ”, he had then declared.
– 10 ° C at night in some regions
With many water treatment plants paralyzed, more than 10 million Texans suffered a supply problem and a majority of them were forced to boil their water to make it drinkable. Across the United States, the storm claimed the lives of at least 30 people.
The operator of the Texan electricity network Ercot, which is not connected to the national network, was still deprived of several plants, which could generate new cuts by the weekend. Several people have already frozen to death. In some areas of the state, nighttime temperatures are well below -10 ° C.
On local channel ABC13, a woman from Galveston County, a suburb of Houston, said her 57-year-old brother, who she was with, died at home despite being wrapped in four blankets. The County Forensic Institute called for a refrigerated truck to store the bodies.
The massive failure of the Texas energy system has sparked outrage. Democrat Beto O’Rourke argued on MSNBC that this state “Is not far from failing”. Anger was also directed at Republican Governor Gregg Abbott, for his unpreparedness.
A “heartbreaking” scene
Gilberto Hinojosa, president of the Democratic Party in Texas, called on the senator to step down. “For Ted Cruz to fly to Mexico while the Texans die in the cold is not surprising but is deeply disturbing”, he wrote, lamenting that he ” abandoned “ its state.
Asked during her daily press briefing on the Republican senator’s getaway to the sun, Jen Psaki, the spokeswoman for the White House, wielded irony. “I have no details to give you on the exact location of Ted Cruz, she replied. We are focusing on mobilization in the face of this winter storm. “
Comedian Trevor Noah, who hosts the Daily Show, spoke to him on Twitter a scene “Heartbreaking” : “A resident of Texas forced to travel over 2,700 kilometers to find water, electricity and heat. “
In addition to Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, Oregon (northwest), hit last weekend, still recorded Thursday nearly 100,000 homes without electricity. A return to milder temperatures is expected this weekend with the displacement of the cold air mass from the Arctic, but it was still snowing heavily Thursday in the suburb of San Antonio, south of Texas.
The disturbance that had caused massive snowfall in the south began to move to the east coast, where snowflakes were expected Thursday from North Carolina to New England (northeast). According to the National Meteorological Service (NWS), an accumulation of ice in North Carolina and Virginia (east) was likely to cause ” many “ power cuts and falling trees in the hours to come.
In New York, a new white layer was gradually added to the remains of the storm which had already deposited more than 40 centimeters of snow in early February. About four inches had fallen on Central Park in the late afternoon. About 200 flights have been canceled in New York.
