As winter storms and freezing temperatures continue to wreak havoc across Texas, many are having to fight for survival.
Hundreds of thousands in the state remained without power on Thursday, trying their best to stay warm and dry as bursted pipes flood homes. Millions who got their lights back on were also dealing with water and other issues.
Here are just some of the struggles some Texans said they are facing during this winter crisis.
Many have no heat
Timothy Wilsey, his wife, Nicole, and their 7-year-old son have been without power for 72 hours.
The family, who reside in Euless, said they use their cars for warmth and to charge battery packs and phones, which Wilsey described as "their only lines of communication."
Wilsey said the family is only using their phones to quickly look at the news and search for restaurants that may be open and serving food.
The family mostly lays "under covers in bed," in their apartment, which is only heated by candles, Timothy said.
"We are keeping busy by going old school and reading books and playing board games," Wilsey told CNN by text message.
In Portland, Texas, Brianna Blake told CNN's Chris Cuomo on Wednesday that she and her husband kept their children warm by using household items as firewood, including artwork and fencing, as they dealt with 36 hours of no heat in their home.
"I just started kind of grabbing my canvasses off the wall, and breaking them and throwing them into the fire," she said.
In Irving, Kimberly Hampton and her family of five initially thought that they would be able to ride out the power outages from their home.
Celing damage in Angelina Villarreal's home in Houston, Texas.
Celing damage in Angelina Villarreal's home in Houston, Texas.
But Hampton said no amount of blankets could keep them warm. The family lost power at 3:30 a.m. Monday, and the home's thermostat quickly fell to 36 degrees Fahrenheit.
Hampton said she was able to get some wood from Home Depot to start a fire and melt frozen breast milk in room temperature water for her 7-month-old baby and 3-year-old twins.
On Tuesday, when asked how things went overnight, Hampton said it got worse and that it felt colder.
"We're out of firewood and there is none available anywhere close by," she told CNN. "My husband is going to have to go buy some formula because all my frozen milk is going bad. My other kids are miserable and don't understand why it's cold or why they can't watch TV or have a warm meal."
To help with the cold, Hampton said the family has "closed off our bedrooms and stuffed towels in the spaces of the doors and used blankets to cover all our windows the best we can."
Kimberly Hampton's child bundled up in a blanket.
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Kimberly Hampton's child bundled up in a blanket.
"We have a generator, but ran out of gas for it extremely quick, so gas stations are open nearby. The kids are all bundled up with three layers of clothes, jackets, and shoes. And we have all been basically laying on top of each other sharing body heat."
In San Antonio, Texas, Claudia and Eder Lemus were fortunate to have their power return Wednesday night, after trying to keep their three young kids warm with a fire, multiple layers of clothes and blankets. They'd even run the burners on the stove, an unconventional way of keeping warm that carries its own risks of carbon monoxide poisoning.
As a military family, Claudia said the family had lived all over the US and even abroad in places with heavy snow.
"We never thought it was going to be like this," she said. "We've lived in Virginia where they have a lot of snow. We've lived abroad in Korea where they have a lot of snow and we just -- we never anticipated the city to come to such a standstill because of this."
Angel Garcia and her family in Killeen, Texas, have been rationing oxygen tanks for their 5-month-old son, who was born with premature lungs. Garcia, a nurse, is watching him constantly, she said.
Angel Garcia shared a photo of her daughter, Jordan, watching the fire as her toys burned.
Angel Garcia shared a photo of her daughter, Jordan, watching the fire as her toys burned.
The family lost power to their home Monday night and was running out of wood, so they burned their 3-year-old daughter's baby blocks in the fireplace, she said.
"A lot of people don't know the severity of what's going on. People are tearing down their fences to burn," Garcia said, between tears. "We started burning my daughter's little wooden blocks because it was just too cold."
She says she hopes that people realize how bad the situation is, in a state where people are not accustomed to this type of cold weather.
"Not everyone has gas, but we waited in line about an hour and finally we were able to get some gas," Garcia said. "There's pretty much nowhere to go. Everyone in Texas is in the same boat. If they have electricity, there's no water. If they have water, there's no electricity."
In Carrollton, John Mays, Jon Milton Blackburn and their three children had no heat or water in their home since early Monday. To fuel their fireplace, the family resorted to ripping up baseboards to stay warm.
"It was either that, or we were going to go after the dining room table next," Mays told CNN's Don Lemon on Thursday.
After a water pipe burst, the family sought shelter at their church, and expressed gratitude for local leadership providing warming stations.
"If anything, this has been such a wonderful learning lesson for us on how important community is, and how important it is to stay together as a community," Mays said.
Some have burst pipes and flooded homes
After sliding up a hill in her car to get gas, Yasmin Elsaba returned to her Austin home to find that the pipes in the fire sprinkler system in a third-floor apartment had burst and begun flooding everything on the lower floors, including her apartment.
"I started sobbing when I saw that water was on my bed," Elsaba said. "I couldn't stay there anymore; the floors were already saturated so sleeping on the floor wasn't an option either."
Elsaba knew she had to leave her apartment, but she was afraid to go to her parents' home because they're at high-risk for Covid-19. She decided to take the treacherous 25-minute drive to their home, and offered to stay in the car in their driveway.
Thomas Black shared an image that has symbolized the winter weather crisis in Texas
Thomas Black shared an image that has symbolized the winter weather crisis in Texas
"When I arrived they wouldn't let me stay outside," she said.
Thomas Black shared an image on social media that went viral, showing icicles hanging from a ceiling fan.
"Lack of preparedness...our infrastructure is just not ready for something like this," Black told CNN's Chris Cuomo on Thursday when asked how the water got on the fan.
Black has also posted other pictures from his apartment building of flooded hallways, water pouring from ceilings in utility closets, and iced over indoor entryways.
When asked why he decided to post the images on social media, Black said, "I think every Texan's blood should be boiling that this is even the reality that we're living in...we're in a bad situation and it's getting worse."
Jesus Cortez and his three roommates were forced out of their college apartment on Tuesday when a sprinkler busted in one of the bedrooms causing the apartment to flood in San Marcos.