The state of Texas was hit hard, as was much of the central United States, when frigid Arctic air pushed southward and a winter storm blew through. Millions of Texas residents have been without electricity for days amid record-setting cold temperatures and widespread blackouts.

The power situation is improving now, but officials warn there may be further rotating power outages as systems come back online. Governor Greg Abbott announced that the White House has issued a Federal Emergency Declaration for Texas, responding to the crisis.

Texans have been coping with the harsh conditions as best they can, finding shelter in some of the warming centers that have been opened, finding fuel for fireplaces or barbecue grills—despite many stores being closed—or bundling up together in their candlelit homes, waiting for the power to return.

1. Krystan Hood sits with her two young children inside her heated car after cold weather knocked out power in Corpus Christi, Texas, on February 16, 2021. #

2. Howard and Nena Mamu eat dinner at their home by candlelight, after power companies performed rotating outages in the Glenwood neighborhood in Hutto, Texas, on February 16, 2021. #

3. Residents of Cedar Crest Drive walk past their burning house as firefighters, who were only able to draw water from one hydrant because all three city-water treatment plants were offline due to cold-weather power outages, try to contain the fire in Abilene, Texas, on February 15, 2021. The house could not be saved due to the low water pressure. #

4. Ice coats a bush in downtown Houston, Texas, on February 15, 2021. #

5. Horses wait for the ice to be broken in their water trough as the sun rises in Bastrop County, near Austin, Texas, on February 15, 2021. #

6. People wait in long lines at an H-E-B grocery store in Austin, Texas, on February 17, 2021. #

7. A man walks to his friend's home in a neighborhood without electricity, as snow covers the Blackhawk neighborhood in Pflugerville, Texas, on February 15, 2021. #

8. People form a line beside empty produce shelves, waiting for cashiers at a supermarket in Austin, Texas, on February 17, 2021. #

9. A water bucket is filled as others wait in near-freezing temperatures to use a hose from a public-park spigot on February 18, 2021, in Houston. Houston and several surrounding cities are under a boil-water notice as many residents are still without running water in their homes. #

10. A man, who wished not to be identified, carries a bag of charcoal he planned to use to keep warm on February 16, 2021, in Houston. #

11. Victor Zelaya chops wood scraps to be used for cooking during a power outage caused by the winter storm on February 16, 2021, in Houston, Texas. #

12. Karla Perez and Esperanza Gonzalez warm up by a barbecue grill during a power outage in Houston on February 16, 2021. #

13. People place rescued turtles stunned by cold weather in an evacuation center in South Padre Island, Texas, in this still image from a video, on February 15, 2021. #

14. Pike Electric service trucks line up after a snow storm on February 16, 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. #

15. Kaleb Love, a worker from the city of Richardson, breaks ice in a frozen fountain in Richardson, Texas, on February 16, 2021. #

16. A man slides down a snow-covered hill in Houston, Texas, on February 15, 2021. #

17. People sled down a hill after a snowstorm on February 17, 2021, in Fort Worth. #

18. East Austin residents push a car out of the snow on February 15, 2021. #

19. A homeless camp under a bridge on I-35 in Austin, Texas, photographed on a cold day, February 17, 2021 #

20. People wait in line to fill propane tanks in Houston on February 17, 2021. Customers waited over an hour in the freezing rain to fill their tanks. #

21. Kristen Young sips a spoonful of soup as her 1-year-old son Shawn watches at a warming center they visited after two days without electricity, in Beltway Park North Church in Abilene, Texas, on February 15, 2021. #

22. People select shirts and sweatshirts being given away at a Gallery Furniture store, after the owner opened his business as a shelter for those without power at their homes, on February 16, 2021, in Houston. #

23. Michael Singletary rests behind a desk at a Gallery Furniture store that opened as a shelter for those without power on February 17, 2021, in Houston. #

24. eople with no power at their homes rest inside a Gallery Furniture store that opened as a shelter on February 16, 2021, in Houston. #

25. Residents line up in their vehicles to enter a warming center and shelter after record-breaking winter temperatures, as local media reports most residents are without electricity, in Galveston, Texas, on February 17, 2021. #

26. Volunteers help distribute water to local residents at a warming center and shelter after record-breaking winter temperatures, in Galveston on February 17, 2021. #

27. People shop in a darkened Fiesta supermarket on February 16, 2021, in Houston. #

28. David Mudge wipes away a tear while taking refuge in a shelter in Galveston on February 18, 2021. #

29. Snow covers the ground in Waco, Texas, on February 17, 2021, as severe winter weather conditions over the last few days led to road closures and power outages over the state. #

30. Keith Hernandez drinks a beer as his friends pull him with their truck on a snow-covered road in Waco on February 17, 2021. #

31. Brett Archibald, whose home was without electric power following severe winter weather, tries to entertain his family as they try to stay warm in their home in the Blackhawk neighborhood of Pflugerville, Texas, on February 16, 2021. #