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(NEW YORK) — It has been nearly two years since Patricia Dowd, a 57-year-old San Jose resident, died of the coronavirus, in early February 2020. Although the virus would soon change the global landscape, upending our world, at the time, most Americans were still unaware of the mysterious disease spreading across Wuhan, China.

It would ultimately take more than two months for Dowd’s death to be determined as COVID-19-related – the first known American fatality, in what would soon become hundreds of thousands of more people succumbing from the infection.

Since Dowd’s death, more than 900,000 other Americans have perished from the virus, according to newly updated data on Friday from Johns Hopkins University.

“This new horrific milestone suggests our march to the unthinkable million mark is all but certain,” said John Brownstein, Ph.D., an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor.

Although the nation is not losing as many Americans as it did last winter, the U.S. is still reporting more than 2,300 new COVID-19-related deaths each day, marking the highest daily death average in nearly a year.

Many experts believe that the current COVID-19 death count could already be greatly undercounted, due to inconsistent reporting by states and localities, and the exclusion of excess deaths, a measure of how many lives have been lost beyond what would be expected if the pandemic had not occurred.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since Feb. 1, 2020, there have been more than 1 million excess deaths.

David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, explained that all these deaths may not be directly related to COVID-19, but some may be excess deaths from opioid overdoses, cardiovascular diseases or other illnesses, which which could have been indirectly related to the pandemic, because of reduced access to care.

“I think it’s fair to say that over 1 million Americans would still be alive today if not for the pandemic,” Dowdy said.

15.7% of the globe’s COVID-19 deaths

No nation has reported more people lost to the virus than the U.S. Although, on a per-capita basis, the U.S. ranks 19th for COVID-19 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, the nation has still reported approximately 15.7% of the world’s COVID-19-related deaths.

Americans in every state, city and town have felt the personal impact and ripple effect of the virus.

An analysis tracking the extensive reach of COVID-19 loss of kin with a bereavement multiplier, published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, estimated that 8.1 million family members may be grieving the loss of a loved one due to the virus.

The staggering number of deaths due to COVID-19 is now higher than the number of Americans who died of heart disease or cancer in 2020, and about the same as the population of Columbus, Ohio.

The number of Americans lost to COVID-19 also continues to dwarf the number of those lost due to influenza. Between Oct. 1, 2021, and Jan. 22, 2022, the CDC estimated that there have been around 1,200 to 3,500 flu deaths. Comparatively, in the same time frame, more than 150,000 Americans have reportedly died from COVID-19.

Racial and ethnic minorities in the country have also faced increased risk of testing positive, requiring hospitalization and dying from COVID-19. According to federal data, adjusted for age and population, the likelihood of death because of COVID-19 for Black, Asian, Latino and Native American people is one to two times higher than white people.

More than 400,000 Americans lost in the last year

In the early days of the pandemic, former President Donald Trump predicted that the U.S. COVID-19 death toll would be “substantially” lower than the initial forecasts suggested.

“The minimum number was 100,000 lives, and I think we’ll be substantially under that number. … So we’ll see what it ends up being, but it looks like we’re headed to a number substantially below 100,000,” Trump said in April 2020.

Less than a year after the former president made his proclamation, more than 500,000 Americans had died.

Although in the months that followed, the U.S. would record another 100,000 deaths, COVID-19 declined to record low levels, leaving many Americans feeling optimistic that a return to normalcy was around the corner.

“The bottom line is: the virus is on the run, and America’s coming back,” President Joe Biden said during a speech following the Fourth of July in 2021.

However, the delta variant, and subsequently the omicron variant, would prove otherwise, ultimately resulting in the loss of 300,000 more Americans since last summer.

Tens of millions of eligible Americans still unvaccinated

As the omicron surge continues to wane, many Americans are eager for a return to normalcy. Though the U.S. is still reporting an average of 415,000 new COVID-19 cases every day, the highest of any viral wave, the average has declined by nearly half from the wave’s peak in mid-January, when the country was reporting more than 800,000 cases each day.

However, many health officials urge caution, reigniting the nation’s recurring debate on when it is safe for cities and towns to lift COVID-19 restrictions and mitigation efforts.

“While so much of the country has decided that the pandemic is over, continued high transmission of the virus in most communities suggests the virus is not over with us. Despite all the innovations in vaccines, treatments and testing, we have still yet to get a handle on reducing severe outcomes from infection,” Brownstein said.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky offered a similar message on Wednesday, telling reporters during a COVID-19 briefing that although it is good news that new cases are falling, hospitalization levels are still quite high, leaving many health care facilities overwhelmed.

“We really do have to look at our hospitalization rates, and our death rates, to look to when it’s time to lift some of these mitigation efforts. We will continue to ​reevaluate, and we know people are anxious,” she said.

Nationwide, more than 120,000 COVID-19-positive Americans are still hospitalized. Though down from the peak of more than 160,000 patients hospitalized at one time in January, front-line workers say the pressure on the health care system is still immense.

“Every day is just filled with nonstop suffering. We feel like failures. I recently overheard a co-worker saying if this young girl doesn’t make it, I don’t think I can keep doing this job. And I think that’s just the atmosphere that we work in every single day. We’re all just one patient away from an emotional breakdown,” said Kelli Hale, a nurse at Mercy Hospital in Oklahoma City.

According to health care workers, the majority of those who are becoming severely ill are the unvaccinated.

Nationwide, just under 62 million eligible Americans remain completely unvaccinated, and 84 million Americans — about half of those eligible — remain without a booster shot, according to federal data.

“It is tragic that, almost a year since vaccines have become widely available to the public, we continue to see thousands die each day of what is now a vaccine-preventable disease. I am devastated for the families of the people who died,” Helen Chu, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Washington in Seattle, told ABC News.

In November, unvaccinated adults had a four times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19, and a 15 times greater risk of dying from COVID-19, compared to vaccinated individuals, according to federal data pulled from 28 states and jurisdictions.

Additionally, unvaccinated adults had a 13 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 and a 68 times greater risk of dying from it, as compared to fully vaccinated individuals with a booster.

Experts stress that the need for more Americans to get vaccinated remains urgent, particularly given the poignant reminder of thousands still dying every day.

“Of course we should consider off-ramps of public health interventions but we should continue to let the data drive decisions,” Brownstein said. “At over 2,300 deaths a day, we are still nowhere close to managing this virus.”

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(NEW YORK) — Thirty-three states from Texas to Maine are on alert Friday morning for snow, ice, bitter cold and flooding as a massive winter storm continues its push east.

With 5,210 flights canceled Thursday nationwide, including over 1,400 in Dallas, the day marked the highest number of weather-related cancellations since March 14, 2017.

Over 310,000 customers are without power Friday morning across Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Texas and Kentucky.

The monster storm brought more than 1 foot of snow from Missouri to western New York over the last 36 hours, bringing roads to a standstill.

Indianapolis recorded a record daily snowfall Thursday with 7.3 inches.

The storm brought 1.7 inches of snow to Dallas — more than the city usually sees in an entire year.

The storm even brought freezing rain down to Texas’ Gulf Coast. Police in Houston are urging drivers to stay off the roads due to ice, and Houston schools are closed Friday.

Texans are still feeling the freeze Friday morning with the wind chill — what temperature it feels like — hitting about 8 degrees in Dallas, 7 degrees in Austin and 1 degree in Lubbock.

On Friday morning, the heavy snow and ice are pummeling the inland Northeast from New York state to Maine. An additional 6 inches of snow is possible in New England.

As temperatures drop Friday morning, icy conditions will develop along the Interstate-95 corridor from New Jersey to New York City to Boston. And the temperatures will continue to plummet for the Northeast Friday night, so whatever rain or freezing rain falls will freeze on any untreated roads.

The storm moves out of the Northeast Friday night. But those in the Northeast will wake up to freezing temperatures Saturday, with the wind chill forecast to plunge to 4 degrees in Boston, 6 degrees in New York City and 12 degrees in Washington, D.C.

ABC News’ Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — A lawsuit filed Wednesday against the District of Columbia alleges its police department keeps a “watchlist” of critics and stalls or denies requests for public information from those on it.

Amy Phillips, a criminal defense lawyer and “outspoken critic” of the Metropolitan Police Department, filed the lawsuit after, she said, a former employee alerted her to the alleged existence of the watchlist and her presence on it. Phillips said in the lawsuit that she is on the alleged list because she requested information that embarrassed MPD and that she intends to continue.

The lawsuit claims the alleged list is a “constitutional violation” and discriminates against requestors of public information on the basis of the “content and viewpoint of prior or anticipated speech,” according to the court filing.

Phillips is requesting the court require the District to stop the use of any watchlist policy and establish a way to ensure continued compliance. She is also asking for attorney’s fees and damages of $1.

“This lawsuit is important because MPD is trying to silence critics of police at a crucial moment in American history where people like me are trying to hold them to account,” Charlie Gerstein, Phillips’ lawyer, said in an interview with ABC News.

If someone on the alleged list submits a request to MPD under the D.C. Freedom of Information Act, it is “set aside for special review by high-ranking officials, including the Chief of Police,” the lawsuit alleges.

People are allegedly put on this list after publicly criticizing the MPD or when requesting information that could be embarrassing to the MPD or its officers, according to the lawsuit.

“Once on the list, the requesters face hurdles that the general public avoids: They may be charged money for public information that others get for free, they may have their requests delayed, or they may have their requests denied outright,” the lawsuit alleges.

In the lawsuit, Phillips said her allegedly being on the list amounts to a violation of her First Amendment rights.

Inspector Vendette Parker, a former FOIA officer for MPD, reportedly alerted Phillips to the existence of the “unofficial, unwritten policy,” the lawsuit states. Parker was reportedly told on her first day of work that the watchlist was created in an effort to prevent then-Police Chief Peter Newsham from being “blindsided” by reporters with questions regarding records they received, the lawsuit says.

According to an estimate from Parker cited in the lawsuit, the “MPD delayed, denied or improperly altered approximately 20 requests pursuant to the watchlist policy” between 2017 and the end of 2019.

“[Parker] also said that she would flag for attention any request that came from a reporter. So that, we think, has to be a lot more, but at the moment we’re not sure,” Gerstein said. “We look forward to learning more in the process of litigating this case.”

Every week, Parker was required to notify Newsham and LeeAnn Turner, the chief operating officer of MPD, of requests that “may lead to criticism of the department, specifically those originating from news reporters or people known to be critical of the department, or those containing requests for information with the potential to embarrass the department,” according to the lawsuit.

Parker would then have a weekly meeting with Turner in which she was instructed how to process the requests, the lawsuit alleges.

“Proposed responsive documents were to be presented to Turner in hard-copy form because, Turner said, she did not want to generate more records that would be subject to disclosure,” the lawsuit says.

According to the lawsuit, those on the alleged list — including reporters, advisory neighborhood commissioners and criminal defense lawyers — always at least experienced a delay in their requests “while the department prepares for any criticism that may result.”

According to former colleagues of Parker, the lawsuit alleges, current Chief of Police Robert Contee has not ended or suspended the policy.

Phillips said she filed at least eight requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act between 2018 and 2021, including requests for information about the MPD’s disciplinary reviews of officers, Newsham’s use of “zero-tolerance policing,” and “policies governing MPD’s specialized units, including the Gun Recovery Unit, Narcotics and Special Investigations Division, and Crime Suppression Teams.”

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters she hadn’t read the lawsuit and couldn’t directly comment on it, but said she is taking the accusation seriously, noting “all FOIA requests should be handled as expeditiously as possible.”

“I’m never going to try to stop anybody’s First Amendment right,” she added.

Hugh Carew, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department, told ABC News it hadn’t been formally served with the lawsuit but wouldn’t discuss specific allegations due to the pending litigation.

“We do acknowledge the serious nature of the claims. Transparency with our community partners is necessary to maintaining trust and agency accountability,” Carew said. “A thorough review of the assertions will be completed and appropriately acted upon.”

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(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Aviation Administration is sounding the alarm over a staggering increase in laser strikes against aircraft in the United States.

Laser strikes occur when people on the ground shine lasers toward aircraft in order to distract them. This can cause temporary blindness for pilots.

“It could dazzle a pilot’s eyes,” Ganyard told ABC News. “It’s essentially a single piloted airplane until the person whose eyes were dazzled comes back to normal and there’s always the chance that it can be caused permanent damage.”

Laser strikes on planes reached record numbers in 2021, according to new data from the FAA.

The agency received 9,723 reports of laser strikes last year — the highest number ever recorded.

“It’s distracting, and usually it happens when planes are close to the ground. That’s the last time you really want anybody flying a plane to be distracted,” Col. Steve Ganyard, an ABC News contributor, said.

Laser strikes have been on the rise in recent years — the FAA reported 6,852 incidents in 2020, 6,136 incidents in 2019 and 5,663 incidents in 2018.

“Many types of high-powered lasers can completely incapacitate pilots, many of whom are flying planes with hundreds of passengers,” the agency said.

Last year, there were 47 injuries related to the laser strikes, the FAA said.

Lasers used can be easily purchased in stores or online by civilians.

Intentionally aiming lasers at aircraft violates federal law. Individuals may face up to $11,000 in civil penalties per violation and up to $30,800 for multiple incidents. Violators can also face criminal penalties from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

“The FAA continues to educate the public about the hazards of laser strikes because they pose such a serious threat to the safety of the pilot, the passengers and everyone in the vicinity of the aircraft,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a release.

The agency issued $120,000 in fines for laser strikes last year.

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(BRIDGEPORT, Conn.) — A Bridgeport, Connecticut, chapter of the NAACP is demanding the Department of Justice investigate the Bridgeport Police Department over the cases of two Black women, Lauren Smith-Fields and ​​Brenda Lee Rawls, who were both found dead in their homes.

The demand comes after two Bridgeport police detectives assigned to both cases, were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the police department’s internal affairs office.

The detectives were disciplined due to a “lack of sensitivity to the public and failure to follow police policy” in the handling of the two cases, according to a statement from Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim on Jan. 30.

Rawls was found dead and alone in her home on Dec. 12, 2021. The cause and manner of death are still undetermined, according to the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Smith-Fields was found dead in her apartment that same day, shortly after being with a man she had met on a dating app.

The Connecticut chief medical examiner’s office found that Smith-Fields’ cause of death was “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, promethazine, hydroxyzine and alcohol.” The medical examiner ruled the manner of death an “accident.”

The families of Smith-Fields, 23, and Rawls, 53, claim Bridgeport police failed to notify them of the deaths and say they learned of the deaths from others.

During a virtual press conference on Wednesday, Bridgeport NAACP president Rev. D. Stanley Lord recommended new training, revised hiring practices, community input and oversight, and more in order to address criticisms of “insensitivity” and “prejudicial” treatment toward “Blacks and other citizens of color” from the department.

“The operation within the Bridgeport Police Department seems to be a constant disarray and dysfunction,” Lord said.

He added, “Recent actions by uniformed officers and detectives have cast a shadow on the performance of the department publicly and has made clear that there is a great need for diversity in its staff, its leadership, and decision-making practices.”

Lord reported that African Americans make up less than 15% of the Bridgeport Police Department. BPD confirmed the statistic.

However, Black Americans make up 35% of the city’s population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In a statement to ABC News from the city of Bridgeport, BPD said it “serves its residents and all members of our community regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or religion. Members of the Bridgeport Police Department are hired and promoted based upon a competitive Civil Service exam process.”

The families of Smith-Fields and Rawls have continued to call for proper investigations into their deaths following the mayor’s announcement. The cases have been reassigned and are still under active investigation.

“It is an unacceptable failure if policies were not followed,” Ganim said in his statement. “To the families, friends and all who care about the human decency that should be shown in these situations in this case by members of the Bridgeport Police Department, I am very sorry.”

The Bridgeport police union called the mayor’s decision to place the officers on leave “regrettable.”

“We caution against a rush to judgment until we have all the facts surrounding this case,” said Sgt. Brad Seely, the union president, in a statement obtained by ABC-affiliate WTNH. “We will file grievances over the placement of Dets. Llanos and Cronin on administrative leave to restore them back to full duty status.”

Seely cited staff shortages in calling for the return of the two detectives.

The union also extended “sympathy and sorrow to the families and friends of Lauren Smith-Fields and Brenda Rawls, whose untimely deaths have brought unimaginable pain.”

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(ATLANTA) — Gregory McMichael, the retired Georgia police officer convicted in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, informed a federal court Thursday evening that he has withdrawn his plans to plead guilty to federal hate crime charges connected to Arbery’s death after a federal judge this week rejected the terms of a plea agreement reached with the Justice Department.

Counsel for McMichael, the father of Travis McMichael, who shot Arbery in February 2020 three times at close range, informed U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Wood in a filing that they are now ready for him to stand trial on the federal hate crimes charges next week.

It is still not clear whether Travis McMichael similarly plans to withdraw his plans to plead guilty after the hearing earlier this week when Wood said she could not accept the terms of the plea agreement reached between the DOJ and the McMichaels, which would have constrained her ability to determine their sentence.

Wood told the men she wanted an answer by Friday.

If Travis McMichael also decides to withdraw his pleas, they will go to trial next week with their co-defendant William “Roddie” Bryan, who was not offered the same plea deal.

Gregory McMichael, 66, a retired Georgia police officer and his 36-year-old son were convicted of state murder charges last year along with Bryan, 52, and were all sentenced to life in prison, the McMichaels without the possibility of parole.

Friday’s decision by the McMichaels comes just days after Wood rejected a plea deal in which federal prosecutors guaranteed the men would be able to serve the first 30 years of confinement in federal prison.

During a hearing on Monday in U.S. District Court in Brunswick, Georgia, Wood said she felt “uncomfortable” approving a plea deal that locked her into giving the McMichaels a three-decade sentence in a federal penitentiary. She noted that the case was in its early stages and said, “I can’t say that 360 months is the precise, fair sentence in this case.”

Wood’s decision came on the heels of Arbery’s parents, Wanda Cooper-Jones and Marcus Arbery, giving impassioned statements in court. They asked the judge to deny the men their wish to go to federal prison, which is safer and better funded than most state prisons, according to legal experts.

“Granting these men their preferred conditions of confinement would defeat me,” Cooper-Jones told Wood. “It gives them one last chance to spit in my face after murdering my son.”

At Monday’s hearing, assistant U.S. attorney Tara Lyons said Travis and Gregory McMichael agreed to plead guilty to count one of a multi-count indictment alleging they interfered with Arbery’s right to enjoy the use of a public road he was jogging on “because of Arbery’s race and color.” Lyons said the agreement called for other charges to be dismissed, including attempted kidnapping and discharging a firearm during a violent crime.

The agreement also called for the McMichaels to waive their right to appeal in both the federal and state cases.

Arbery, 25, was fatally shot on Feb. 23, 2020, after the McMichaels saw him jogging in their Satilla Shores neighborhood near Brunswick, Georgia. They said they assumed Arbery was a burglar, armed themselves and chased him in their pickup truck. The McMichaels’ neighbor, Bryan, joined the pursuit, blocking the victim’s escape path with his truck.

Bryan also used his cellphone to record Travis McMichael fatally shooting Arbery with a shotgun, video that became integral to their state murder convictions.

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(CHICAGO) — Chicago is bracing for massive protests over the prison release of former city police officer Jason Van Dyke, who was convicted of murder in the 2014 line-of-duty shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

The 43-year-old Van Dyke was let go from the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections Thursday morning, sources told ABC Chicago station WLS. His release came after he served half of a six-year, nine-month sentence he was given in 2019.

In anticipation of Van Dyke’s release, Chicago police and city officials met with business leaders on Wednesday for a security briefing and Mayor Lori Lightfoot attempted to allay fears in a statement she issued Thursday morning.

“I understand why this continues to feel like a miscarriage of justice, especially when many Black and brown men get sentenced to so much more prison time for having committed far lesser crimes,” Lightfoot said. “It’s these distortions in the criminal justice system, historically, that have made it so hard to build trust.”

Lightfoot noted that Van Dyke was the first Chicago police officer in more than a half century to be convicted of a crime committed in the line of duty.

“While I know this moment is disappointing, it should not prevent us from seeing the significant progress Van Dyke’s prosecution and conviction represent,” she said.

Demonstrators are expected to gather Thursday afternoon at Federal Plaza in Chicago in hopes of delivering a letter to U.S. Attorney John Lausch requesting federal civil rights charges be brought against Van Dyke.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and members of his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, are expected to join Black Lives Matter Chicago protesters and Father Michael Pfleger, the Catholic priest and Chicago activist, at Thursday’s protest.

More demonstrations are being planned for Friday, officials said.

On Tuesday, Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, both Democrats from Illinois, issued a joint letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting a briefing on a federal investigation into the McDonald murder case. The senators said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois has refused to say whether the federal investigation launched in April 2015 was still ongoing or closed.

McDonald was killed on Oct. 20, 2014. Police dashcam video of the shooting played at Van Dyke’s trial showed McDonald was armed with a knife but did not appear to be moving toward the police officers following him when Van Dyke responded and opened fire on the teen 16 times in a span of 15 seconds.

Van Dyke testified at his 2018 trial that he believed McDonald was coming at him with a knife. An autopsy showed McDonald had a small amount of the hallucinogenic drug PCP in his system when he died.

The Cook County Circuit Court jury found Van Dyke guilty on charges of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, one for each shot he fired at McDonald.

Four Chicago police officers were subsequently fired over their alleged cover-up of McDonald’s killing after an investigation found they made false statements to investigators about the shooting.

Van Dyke was initially sent to a state prison to serve his sentence, but after he was beaten by fellow inmates in his cell he was transferred to a federal prison in 2019.

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(OROVILLE, Calif.) — A shooting inside a Greyhound bus on Wednesday killed one person and injured four others, including an 11-year-old girl, according to police.

Police said a dispute on the bus led the suspect to shoot his gun while the bus was parked at an Am/Pm convenience store in Oroville, California, around 7:30 p.m. local time. Four victims were transported to local hospitals. A fifth victim was pronounced dead on the scene despite lifesaving measures, according to police.

The 11-year-old victim is currently in stable condition, according to police. The other victims include a 25-year-old woman who is pregnant and in critical condition, a 30-year-old male who is in stable condition and expected to be released from the hospital and a 32-year-old male who sustained multiple gunshot wounds and is in critical condition, according to police.

Police identified the suspect as 21-year-old Asaahdi Elijah Coleman from Sacramento. He has a juvenile criminal record, according to the district attorney.

Witnesses told police more than 10 shots were fired. Police were able to locate 12 nine-millimeter expanded casings.

The suspect fled the bus when police arrived and ran through a shopping complex and into a Walmart. The suspect was “acting bizarrely,” according to 911 calls coming from inside the Walmart. Police said the suspect had gotten into another altercation with a customer.

He was acting erratically and had removed his clothes, according to police.

Police encountered the suspect at the front of the Walmart and took him into custody without using force. The suspect was brought to Butte County Jail and the firearm was recovered, according to police.

Police do not believe there are any suspects at large.

“The witnesses who were on the bus have been transported and they are being interviewed,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said during a news conference on Wednesday.

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(DALLAS) — A dangerous winter storm is dropping snow, sleet and ice in Texas, knocking out power and suspending operations at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott warned Thursday, “We are dealing with one of the most significant icing events … in at least several decades.”

Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for 17 counties expected to see the worst impacts from the ice.

Abbott blamed the ice for knocking out power to at least 50,000 customers.

Abbott said 12,000 linemen will be working on the power issues.

State officials are urging residents to stay home as ice and snow accumulate on roads.

The temperature also poses danger. On Friday the wind chill — what temperature it feels like — is expected to plunge to the single digits in Dallas and below zero in the Texas Panhandle.

This storm comes one year after Texas’ power grid disaster, when back-to-back winter storms left more than 4 million people without heat and safe water. It took days for power to be restored, and more than 100 people died because of subsequent blackouts. Months later, Abbott signed a bill to reform the state’s power grid.

At a Thursday news conference Abbott stressed that the grid is reliable and said, “the power grid is performing very well at this time.”

Texas has about 15% more power generation capacity compared to last year, Abbott said, adding that 99% of power generators have passed inspection this year.

He said there’s several days worth of natural gas in storage should the weather hinder the flow of natural gas.

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(WASHINGTON) — A man who was arrested for parking his car illegally, for failure to obey and assault on a police officer, has returned and parked his Chevy Tahoe once again in front of the Supreme Court building Thursday, Capitol Police said in a tweet.

Dale Paul Melvin of Kimball, Michigan, was outside of the Supreme Court, when he was arrested in October also for illegally parking and refusing to leave, Capitol Police had said in a statement at the time.

U.S. Capitol Police say Melvin used some “concerning language” on public social media postings shortly before he showed up in font of the Supreme Court, a statement released by the agency said.

“Our officers and agents are focused on our critical mission,” said USCP Chief Tom Manger. “I applaud them for their keen observation and for not taking any chances when it comes to safety and security.”

Capitol Police says after some discussion the 58-year-old was not arrested and agreed to leave the area.

Melvin told Capitol Police in October: “The time for talking is over.” He then had to physically be removed from the car after speaking with Capitol Police investigators, authorities said.

Capitol Police said roads are back open after witnesses saw Melvin hold up a letter, then promptly drive away after he parked his car illegally in front of the Supreme Court.

Roads around the Supreme Court and U.S. Capitol are clear, police said.

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