Early Tuesday morning, Houston police reported that a young child and an adult woman died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning after trying to run a car in an attached garage to stay warm. Fumes from the car’s exhaust had seeped into the car, as well as the family’s home.
The police, as well as firefighters, were conducting a welfare check just after midnight when they found the two. The woman was found in the car, while the girl, who was reportedly eight years old, was in the house at the time.
In the home, they also discovered an adult man and a seven year old male child who were alive, unconscious, and then transported to a hospital.
“Initial indications are that [a] car was running in the attached garage to create heat as the power is out,” the HPD said in a statement. “Cars, grills, and generators should not be used in or near a building.”
NBC News reports the home was in a neighborhood hit by widespread power outages as a result of a rare winter storm. More than four million Texans have been without power as a result of record-low temperatures overwhelming the electric grid. Poweroutage.us indicates that the areas hardest hit by the outages are around Houston and Galveston.
