A woman and child died from carbon monoxide poisoning in Houston after running their car to keep warm. Elsewhere, three children and their grandmother died in a house fire.
Officials have warned Texans to be careful about the methods they use to stay warm after several deaths were linked to a winter storm that has knocked out power in large parts of the state. The Houston Police Department said a woman and a child died from carbon monoxide poisoning early on Tuesday morning after a family left their car running for heat during a power outage. In the nearby city of Sugar Land, authorities said three young children and their grandmother, who were also thought to be trying to keep warm, died in a house fire in the early hours of Tuesday. On Twitter, Houston Police said officers were performing a welfare check at a home in the 8300 block of La Roche Lane in southwest Houston when they found four people—two adults and two children—affected by carbon monoxide poisoning. A woman and a girl did not survive, police said, while a man and a boy were taken to hospital. Their conditions are not known. According to KTRK, the girl was 8 years old and the surviving boy is 7. Officials told the local TV station that the woman had been on the phone to a family member while sitting in the car when she passed out.
