Power outages drop below 1 million in Texas, but deadly cold heads east bringing more problems

The number of power outages in Texas on Thursday due to the powerful and deadly ice and snow storm was roughly 1 million — about half  the number earlier this week. But the storms continue to create new problems as they reach the East Coast, creating more dangerous conditions. 

Though the number of outages in Texas was below a million for the first time in four days, many residents are still without safe drinking water — with the storms and their single-digit temperatures having wreaked havoc on the state's power grid and utilities, according to the Associated Press. 

Heavy snow and ice began arriving early Thursday in the Appalachians, northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania, before moving into the Northeast by nightfall.

In Little Rock, Ark., 15 inches of snow was on the ground after back-to-back storms, tying a record for snow depth set in 1918, the National Weather Service said.

Over 30 people have died as a result of the week's extreme weather, some of whom perished while trying to keep warm inside their homes. In the Houston area, one family succumbed to carbon monoxide from car exhaust in their garage. A grandmother and three children died when flames escaped the fireplace they were using to keep warm, the wire service also reports.