“No One Owes You or Your Family Anything”: Texas Mayor Resigns After Calling Residents Looking for Help Lazy in Winter Storm
Snow is plowed on the parking lot at Dickies Arena after a snow storm on February 16, 2021 in Fort Worth, Texas. Winter storm Uri has brought historic cold weather and power outages to Texas as storms have swept across 26 states with a mix of freezing temperatures and precipitation. Ron Jenkins/Getty Images

A Texas mayor resigned after telling residents struggling to fend for themselves in a record-breaking storm that left most of the state without power on Tuesday.

Tim Boyd, the former mayor of Colorado City, write a message for people desperate for heat, water, and power, saying that only the strong will survive and the weak will perish.

"No one owes you [or] your family anything; nor is it the local government's responsibility to support you during trying times like this!" Boyd was quoted in a CBS News report.

Boyd further told residents to "sink or swim" as it is their choice. He also said that the City and County with power providers or any other service owes the residents nothing, adding that he is tried of people asking for a handout.

The former mayor further said people needing water services to think outside the box to survive and called people waiting in the cold, without any power supply "lazy." Authorities were telling people to stay home and avoid icy roads during the winter storm.

Boyd Resigning

Boyd's post was not deleted but it was circulated widely on social media. He received criticisms for his statement and later announced that he quit his office in another Facebook post.

He then said in his recent Facebook post that he would never want to hurt the elderly or anyone that is in true need of help to be left during the storm, claiming that his statement only targets those who are able and too lazy to get up.

Boyd also said that his statement was made as a private citizen. He added that his wife had been fired from her job over the things that he said and that his family was facing "undeserved" harassment and death threats, according to a Seattle Times report.

The former Colorado mayor could not be reached for comment late Tuesday night. In addition, it was not immediately clear if he resigned before or after writing the said Facebook post.

Early Wednesday morning, he is still listed as mayor on Colorado City's website. The city council agendas showed that he had served in that role as recently as last week.

Winter Storm Crisis

Colorado City is home to around 4,000 people and below freezing temperatures are not uncommon in winter as winds swept across the plains. However, losing heat, power, water, and the inability to cook at the same time were an unpleasant experience for many residents.

Community members already were doing their best to help each out. They were also trying to access the emergency preparedness plan on Colorado City's official webpage, which led to an error message, according to critics.

Millions of people throughout the state of Texas were still without power on Tuesday after the state was covered with record snowfall over the weekend leading to Monday, according to a New York Daily News report.

The storm had brought deaths with those trying to keep warm, including a woman and a young girl dying due to what to authorities believe to be carbon monoxide poisoning.