Much of the Midwest and the Southern US is gripped by a vicious and unprecedented series of winter storms. This unrelenting Arctic blast has crippled the power grid in Texas, which was already falling short of federal regulations before being overtaxed.

As millions in Texas remain without power, questions about who is to blame for the grid’s failure continue to pour in. The “blame game” is in full effect in the Lone Star state, with partisans from both parties blaming the other for the brutal outages in the midst of sub-freezing temperatures.

Even as the country grapples with COVID-19 in an attempt to end the pandemic, increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters has made the situation even more dire. The weakening of the jet stream and the southward dips of the polar vortex have climate scientists worried that lasting ecological damage could be done by unprecedented storms like this.