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Power restored to more homes amid winter storms, but crisis far from over

Pedestrians cross a snowy street in New York City.
Pedestrians cross 71st Avenue as snow falls Thursday in Queens, N.Y.
(Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)
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Power was restored to more homes and businesses Thursday in states hit by a deadly blast of winter that overwhelmed the electrical grid and left millions in brutally cold conditions this week. But the crisis was far from over in parts of the South, where many people still lacked safe drinking water.

A worker tries to clear ice from a fountain.
Richardson, Texas, city worker Kaleb Love works to clear ice from a water fountain.
(LM Otero / Associated Press)

In Texas on Thursday, about 325,000 homes and businesses remained without power, down from about 3 million a day earlier, though utility officials said limited rolling blackouts were still possible.

A woman climbs into a dumpster.
A woman collects discarded ice cream in a dumpster behind a supermarket in Arlington, Texas, which has endured a power outage.
(Tom Fox / Dallas Morning News)
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The storms also left more than 320,000 homes and businesses without power in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. About 70,000 power outages persisted after an ice storm in eastern Kentucky, while nearly 67,000 were without electricity in West Virginia.

Dialina Ganzo rests on a bed.
Dialina Ganzo, 29, rests on a bed while taking shelter at Gallery Furniture store, which was transformed into a warming station in Houston.
(Go Nakamura / Getty Images)
Turtles are kept in a shelter
Thousands of Atlantic green sea turtles and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are sheltered at the South Padre Island Convention Center after being rescued from the cold on South Padre Island, Texas.
(Miguel Roberts / Brownsville Herald)
Sea turtles on a cart.
A volunteer transports sea turtles into the recovery area at the South Padre Island Convention Center in Texas.
(Miguel Roberts / Brownsville Herald )
Customers use a cellphone light in a store.
Customers use a cellphone light inside a grocery store in Dallas.
(LM Otero / Associated Press)
A man warms his foot over a stove.
Jorge Sanhueza-Lyon warm his feet over a gas stove in Austin, Texas.
(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
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A man plays a guitar while others listen.
Brett Archibald entertains his family as they try to stay warm in their home the Pflugerville, Texas.
(Ricardo B. Brazziell / Austin American-Statesman )
A homeless man sleeps outdoors in Chicago.
A homeless man rests on a bench at the Chicago Transit Authority’s Clark & Dearborn bus station.
(Charles Rex Arbogast / Associated Press)
A man with a dog indoors.
A man embraces his dog Dittle D Bear while resting at a warming shelter in Odessa, Texas.
(Eli Hartman / Odessa American)
A woman loads firewood into a trunk.
Sara Castillo loads firewood into her car in Dallas. Castillo said her house has been without power since Sunday.
(LM Otero / Associated Press)
A patient is prepared for transport.
A patient at St. David’s South Austin Medical Center is prepared for transport in Austin, Texas.
(Bronte Wittpenn / Austin American-Statesman)
A man and a firefighter on a street.
James Anyaegvu, who lived in a home that burned, speaks with a firefighter in Austin, Texas.
(Bronte Wittpenn / Associated Press)
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