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Mother who lost three children and mom in fire during Texas power outages talks about tragic night

President Joe Biden planning to travel to Houston, Texas, tomorrow to survey the damage from recent winter storms with Republican Governor Greg Abbott the freezing weather causing multiple crises, leaving millions of Texans without power or clean water. Biden previewed his trip today while addressing the National Governors Association. Virtually Governor Abbott. I don’t want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to coming down tomorrow to Houston to be with you, and I want you and the residents to know that we’re here to provide the federal assistance you need to support your state, your local and tribal response efforts. And it’s clear that even when the immediate crisis passes, there’s gonna be more work to be done to help constituents recover. But meanwhile, Americans in the Lone Star State are still suffering badly, and tonight I need to share the story of one of those Texans with you. Her name is Jackie Win, and last week the unthinkable happened to her. Jackie’s mother and three Children were killed in a fire at Jackie’s home in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land. Jackie had been home with her mother and kids after her mother’s power went out. When Jackie’s power also went out. Just a few hours later, the family lit a fire in the fireplace and they played board games and card games together, going to bed early after tiring themselves out. Well, Jackie tells CNN that she tucked her kids into bed and really, the next thing I know, this is a quote from her. I’m in the hospital, she says, and Jackie win joins me now. Jackie, I’m so, so, so sorry for every this is really the unthinkable. Um, of what happened to you. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. Don, thank you for letting me, um, sure, my kids with the world. Yeah, it’s normal. Ask people how they’re doing, But I don’t think that’s needed to ask in this situation, because I know it’s I could see that you’re dealing with it, but it’s just I can’t e can’t even imagine What What’s going on? That Monday you all woke up and it was snowing. It looked magical outside, So you and the kids went outside to play in the snow. Tell me about that morning, please. Yeah. I mean, my my sunedison, He’s an early riser, so he kind of got toe benefit from the fresh snow. First, him and my dog Atlas. We were out there and shortly after his sisters joined and everybody was just so excited. And as you said, you know, it was magical, and we I knew, you know, all this was kind of going on around us in Houston, but it was we didn’t feel like at all. We were in the middle of, you know, some something going on in the city. Um, it was unexpectedly really cold and frigid. Eso We enjoyed the snow for just a few minutes at a time. At one point, um, my oldest Olivia and I were just talking about our next ski trip. That’s something she really enjoys doing on. Do you know, as you said, Yeah, around five o’clock, Um, the lights went out and we pulled out some games and a deck of playing cards, and that didn’t faze us too much because it was something we did a lot as a family. Um, you know, despite me asking everybody toe conserve their batteries and devices. Olivia begged me to join a zoom call with her camp friends that night. Um You know, I’m really glad in hindsight that I let her have that call with them. Um, later that day, your mom came over to your home because the power had gone out in her house. But then when your power, when your power went out, you let the fireplace to stay warm. And what do you remember about that night? Yeah, right around five o’clock. And you know, my That’s when the power went out. We lit up the fireplace, which isn’t something, you know, I used that fireplace eso it wasn’t something weird or for or anything like that stayed warm because we’re kind of all huddled around each other and layered up and have the fire going. Um, and everybody kind of got tired of around 9. 30 10. Um, and just just like every other day, Donna took my kids in the bed and, hey, my mom kissed that night and headed down to my room. Um, and next thing I know, I woke up in the hospital without my kids and waited several hours later on Lee to find out that I had lost everything. And you don’t remember anything, right? Until except for waking up in the hospital? No, I mean just bits and pieces in my head, but I don’t I really don’t remember anything. And, you know, people say that That’s part of the kind of smoke inhalation that I had taken in.

Mother who lost three children and mom in fire during Texas power outages talks about tragic night

As Texas hobbles back to normal life after a devastating winter storm, one mother is still trying to come to terms with a heart-wrenching and unfathomable personal tragedy.Jackie Pham Nguyen lost her mother, Loan Le, and her three children, Olivia, 11, Edison, 8, and Colette, 5 in a fire while trying to stay warm at her home in the Houston suburb of Sugarland during the power outages that crippled the state.Nguyen says she doesn’t remember much of what happened in the early morning of Feb. 16.When the power went out in her house, the family lit the fireplace and played board games and card games, she said. They went to bed by around 9:30 p.m. as the kids had tired themselves out, Nguyen told CNN.She tucked the kids into bed and the next thing she knew she was in the hospital and a firefighter and police officer were telling her no one else had made it. She says she doesn’t fully remember what happened but recalls being on the first floor where her bedroom is and being unable to get upstairs to the children’s bedrooms. Nguyen told CNN her mother was the reason she could be a working mom. From afternoon pickups from school to grocery shopping, Nguyen says her mother was the reason she could be a single working mom and also be involved in the lives of her children and their activities.”I really wanted my girls to see that women can do it all and I wanted my son to be the kind of man that steps up. Like I said, my mom really kind of bridged that gap for me to be able to do that and for my kids to be able to see that,” Nguyen said.As for her children, Nguyen told CNN about their big and beautiful personalities.”She just really loved and cared for people in such a deep way,” Nguyen said of Olivia. “In November, she spent weeks curating a Spotify playlist for her brother Edison for his birthday as a gift to him… and she noticed that I was listening to it so much that she made me one for my birthday, which we all just celebrated together just a few weeks ago,” she said. Nguyen said Edison was born shortly after her own father passed away, and he filled a “gaping hole” in her heart. “He was a lot like my dad in many ways, so I think that gave my mom a great feeling of comfort, feeling like my dad was still with us,” she said.She said her youngest Collette, or Coco as she was affectionately known, “wanted to do it all.” “Words can’t capture, how big her personality was,” Nguyen added.Nguyen said she has a support system that’s helping her through this difficult time. She is staying with her brother at the moment, and her two sisters have flown in to help her. She says some of her really good friends who were like aunts and uncles to her children are also part of her support system.She has also set up a GoFundMe page for donations to honor her children’s lives with a foundation. “Our hearts are broken right now,” she wrote on the page. “However, your acts of kindness have given us some comfort to pull us through. We are forever grateful to you all.”Millions of people shivered in the cold with power outages and disrupted water supply after winter storms slammed the state with extreme cold, snow and ice earlier this month.

As Texas hobbles back to normal life after a devastating winter storm, one mother is still trying to come to terms with a heart-wrenching and unfathomable personal tragedy.

Jackie Pham Nguyen lost her mother, Loan Le, and her three children, Olivia, 11, Edison, 8, and Colette, 5 in a fire while trying to stay warm at her home in the Houston suburb of Sugarland during the power outages that crippled the state.

Nguyen says she doesn’t remember much of what happened in the early morning of Feb. 16.

When the power went out in her house, the family lit the fireplace and played board games and card games, she said. They went to bed by around 9:30 p.m. as the kids had tired themselves out, Nguyen told CNN.

She tucked the kids into bed and the next thing she knew she was in the hospital and a firefighter and police officer were telling her no one else had made it. She says she doesn’t fully remember what happened but recalls being on the first floor where her bedroom is and being unable to get upstairs to the children’s bedrooms.

Nguyen told CNN her mother was the reason she could be a working mom. From afternoon pickups from school to grocery shopping, Nguyen says her mother was the reason she could be a single working mom and also be involved in the lives of her children and their activities.

“I really wanted my girls to see that women can do it all and I wanted my son to be the kind of man that steps up. Like I said, my mom really kind of bridged that gap for me to be able to do that and for my kids to be able to see that,” Nguyen said.

As for her children, Nguyen told CNN about their big and beautiful personalities.

“She just really loved and cared for people in such a deep way,” Nguyen said of Olivia. “In November, she spent weeks curating a Spotify playlist for her brother Edison for his birthday as a gift to him… and she noticed that I was listening to it so much that she made me one for my birthday, which we all just celebrated together just a few weeks ago,” she said.

Nguyen said Edison was born shortly after her own father passed away, and he filled a “gaping hole” in her heart. “He was a lot like my dad in many ways, so I think that gave my mom a great feeling of comfort, feeling like my dad was still with us,” she said.

She said her youngest Collette, or Coco as she was affectionately known, “wanted to do it all.” “Words can’t capture, how big her personality was,” Nguyen added.

Nguyen said she has a support system that’s helping her through this difficult time. She is staying with her brother at the moment, and her two sisters have flown in to help her. She says some of her really good friends who were like aunts and uncles to her children are also part of her support system.

She has also set up a GoFundMe page for donations to honor her children’s lives with a foundation. “Our hearts are broken right now,” she wrote on the page. “However, your acts of kindness have given us some comfort to pull us through. We are forever grateful to you all.”

Millions of people shivered in the cold with power outages and disrupted water supply after winter storms slammed the state with extreme cold, snow and ice earlier this month.