111 Deaths Now Attributed To Texas' Winter Storms In February
AUSTIN, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - The Texas Department of State Health Services released new data Thursday, March 25 that shows 111 Texans died related to the winter storms in mid-February, when there were widespread power outages due to Texas' electrical grid failure during record cold temperatures.
The original tally on March 15, showed 57 Texans had died.
The numbers may still be updated as DSHS disaster epidemiologists continue to reconcile information about causes of death.
The majority of verified deaths were associated with hypothermia.
There have also been multiple deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents, carbon monoxide poisoning, medical equipment failure, exacerbation of chronic illness, lack of home oxygen, falls, and fire.
Confirmed deaths occurred between February 11 and March 5.
There were 9 deaths in North Texas, including 2 in Collin County, 3 in Dallas County, 2 in Ellis County, 1 in Hunt County and 1 in Kaufman County.
There are three principal ways DSHS is notified of storm-related deaths:
Medical certifiers submit a DSHS form specifying that a particular death was related to a disaster.
Medical certifiers flag a death record as disaster-related.
DSHS epidemiologists match public reports of disaster-related deaths to death records.