One of America's most prominent politicians has apologised for taking a holiday to Mexico as his state suffered through one of its biggest disasters in decades.
Senator Ted Cruz was spotted boarding a flight to the beach resort town of Cancun yesterday, as the state of Texas shivered through a cold snap that has led to lasting blackouts across the state.
Senator Cruz said he flew down to Cancun for a family trip, with the intention of working remotely for the weekend.
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The prominent Republican has now said that trip was a "mistake".
"I started having second thoughts almost the moment I sat down on the plane, because on the one hand, all of us who are parents have a responsibility to take care of our kids, take care of our family," he said.
"That's something Texans have been doing across the state.
"But I also have a responsibility that I take very seriously for the state of Texas and frankly, leaving when so many Texans were hurting didn't feel right and so I changed my return flight and flew back on the first available flight I could take."
In spite of wearing a face mask, Senator Cruz was quickly recognised on the flight, triggering a political firestorm.
Former San Antonio Mayor and presidential candidate Julian Castro criticised Senator Cruz's decision.
"In crises like these, members of Congress play a critical role connecting their constituents to emergency services and assistance," Mr Castro said.
"Ted Cruz should be on the phone with federal agencies, not on a trip to Mexico."
Senator Cruz returned to his home to find furious protesters outside.
"We're in a strange time where Twitter's been going crazy and the media is going crazy and there's a lot of venom and vitriol that I think is unfortunate frankly on both sides," he said.
"I think everyone ought to treat each other with respect and decency and try to understand each other more."
The Texas senator has been maligned in recent weeks for his role in the January 6 riots.
Senator Cruz has been one of the loudest voices in the fight to overturn the election results, with Democrats blaming his rhetoric for the violence in the Capitol.
"If Sen. Cruz had resigned back in January after helping gin up a violent insurrection that killed several people, he could've taken his vacation in peace," Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said.
"Texans should continue to demand his resignation."
While Dallas is currently below zero, Cancun is a summery 26C.
Senator Cruz is widely regarded as one of the most conservative politicians in Washington, and ran for president in 2016.
Right now, millions of Texans are without power or heating, and some jurisdictions are warning that drinking water is not safe because of the massive electricity outage.
While many Texas politicians are pointing the finger at wind turbines failing, many colder states who are far more reliant on wind energy are operating fine.
Instead the blame lies mostly with a shortage of natural gas, which the Texas energy grid is heavily dependent on.
Mechanical issues at coal and nuclear plants also contributed to the statewide blackouts.
High demand also placed pressure on the system.
Texas is not known for the cold it is now experiencing, and the infrastructure is not equipped to handle it.
While every other state in contiguous America is part of a national electricity network, Texas has its own power grid.
After days without power, residents in many Texas towns and cities are being told they need to boil their water before they drink it.
But without electricity, many do not have a way to boil the water.
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