AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — More than 100,000 customers in the southern U.S. remained without power Monday following damaging storms, leaving residents searching for relief as sweltering temperatures continued to scorch the region.
Power outages for some customers in the piney woods of Texas could stretch late into this week as crews scrambled to make repairs. In some parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, the heat wave has been accompanied by heavy rain, punishing winds, thunderstorms and hail.
In Louisiana, officials closed nearly two dozen state offices Monday because of the risks of severe weather.
“It’s been unbearable,” Leigh Johnson, a resident of Mount Vernon, Texas, told Dallas television station KXAS. She had not had power for about three days.
“It’s been horrible because it’s like, the heat index has been so bad that literally, we’re having to sit in the cold baths to cool ourselves down. Our animals as well, we’re having to stick them in the bathtub just to keep them from having a heat stroke, it’s been that bad," she said.
More than 120,000 customers were without power as of Monday morning in the eastern parts of Texas and portions of Louisiana and Oklahoma, according to Southwestern Electric Power Company. Another 4,000 customers were still waiting for electricity to come back in the Texas town of Perryton after a devastating tornado ripped through last week.
Officials projected hot and humid conditions across the South Monday, with temperatures climbing into the upper-90s over much of the region, according to the National Weather Service. Excessive heat warnings were in effect for wide swaths of Louisiana and Texas, pushing many cities to open cooling centers.
In Austin and San Antonio, highs were expected to again surpass 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius).
As temperatures reached the mid-90s in central Mississippi, high winds pummeled the state early Friday, blanketing the region with power outages. Electricity crews in Mississippi worked through the weekend, some on 16-hour shifts, to restore power to tens of thousands of homes.
Some people had trouble obtaining medication after power forced pharmacies and grocery stores to close, according to WLBT-TV. As crews were working to restore power a Mississippi, multiple tornadoes swept through the state overnight into Monday, killing one and injuring nearly two dozen.
Healthcare workforce management platform ShiftMed
recently announced a $45 million funding round.
The company's platform connects nurses and healthcare professionals to hospitals and other healthcare providers.
ShiftMed's new funding comes amid widespread labor shortages in the healthcare sector. The company's CEO Todd Walrath joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Universities like UCLA, Yale, and Duke have announced they're implementing remote learning amid the COVID omicron variant surge, despite President Biden recommending that K-12 schools should continue in-person education. Jared C. Bass, senior director for Higher Education at American Progress, joined Cheddar to break down what institutions of higher education might be considering differently. "I think some universities are allowing periods of a bit of a respite to allow students to get testing and make sure when they do return back to campus that they're healthy," he noted.
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Hyperfine, the pioneer of the very first FDA-approved portable MRI device, made its public debut on the Nasdaq via a SPAC merger. CEO Dave Scott joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to discuss the IPO launch, the company's valuation at $580 million, and the impact of its machine called Swoop. "We can roll an MRI system, our MRI Swoop system, right into the room where you are, right up to your patient bedside, and scan you right there and get an image in less than an hour," he explained.
Dr. Rob Davidson, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Health Care and an ER Physician in West Michigan, joins Cheddar News to break down the expectations of Pfizer's new COVID-19 treatment pill.
The FDA has granted emergency use authorization to Pfizer's pill to treat covid-19. The treatment, called Paxlovid, is the first antiviral covid-19 pill that people can take at home.
Pfizer says the pill can reduce the risk of severe illness by 90 percent and is intended for people at high risk for severe disease, including those over 65, people with obesity, diabetes, or a weakened immune system. Professor Peter Pitts, Founder, Center for Medicine in the Public Interest & Former FDA Associate joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
Ahead of a four day week for the markets due to the upcoming Christmas holiday, investors hoping for a quiet end to the year, or even a Santa Claus rally, may not be in luck. Investors are still digesting the latest from the Fed regarding a quicker than expected taper, as well as ever increasing blow back as the Omicron variant spreads. Octavio Marenzi, CEO of Opimas LLC, explains why the markets have been so volatile ever since the emergence of the latest variant and what to expect going forward into 2022.
Carlo and Baker cover the heartening news on the Covid front ahead of the holiday, plus President Biden punting student loan repayments again, a new space telescope and Love, Hate, Ate: Christmas Eve Eve Edition!
Pfizer, one of the makers of a currently available COVID-19 vaccine, has taken another critical step forward in combatting the pandemic by getting regulatory approval for Paxlovid, a pill treatment rather than IV or injection as others have been. Dr. Purvi Parikh, an immunologist with the Allergy and Asthma Network, spoke to Cheddar about the ramifications of the authorization. "This is huge, especially because we know early treatment does keep people out of the hospital, especially with this antiviral," Parikh said. "The fact that people can start a regimen at home so they don't have to leave and further expose others is a big breakthrough." She also explained how the drug is a combination of two antiviral medications that are not without its risks but should be safe over the short term.
This year's worldwide semiconductor shortage limited the supply of everything from new cars to smartphones; and now, many in the chip industry expect the shortage to continue deep into 2022, and maybe even 2023. Semiconductor senior research analyst for Robert W. Baird & Co., Tristan Gerra, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
