Elizabeth Troval

Millions of Texans had cranked up the heat, spiking demand.

That's Joshua Rhodes with UT Austin.

The cold knocked off power that was being produced by natural gas, coal, and nuclear plants, and wind turbines.

Now, a lot of that infrastructure has been winterized.

And...

But he says there are still questions about whether companies who produce and deliver natural gas have sufficiently weatherized their infrastructure.

And Ed Herr says that the structure of Texas's unique market means there's less incentive to build up a cushion of extra electricity.

But he says that cushion can save lives when extreme weather hits.

I'm Elizabeth Troval for Marketplace.

Retail has shifted over to entertainment and activities and health.

with gyms and fitness and pickleball courts.

We did see a slowdown in job creation nationwide.

And as that's occurring, a lot of the construction is

in Texas and the rest of the country, quite frankly, is starting to slow down a little bit.

In Mississippi, rain quickly turned into ice in many parts of the state, freezing power lines and trees, delivering a blow to the state's timber industry, says Keith Coble with Mississippi State University.

And you can't just replace a 12-year-old tree.

In neighboring Louisiana, Mike Della Berto with Louisiana State University says even though farmers just wrapped up sugarcane harvest.

Because you can harvest sugarcane several times, but not if the root freezes beyond repair.

And moving west through Louisiana into Texas, we're in crawfish country.

Nikki Fitzgerald with Texas A&M is keeping an eye on the mud bugs who burrow deep in the ground when it gets cold.