US power outages from severe weather have doubled in 20 years

The nation's aging electrical grid is battered by an increasing number of destructive storms caused by a warming climate

Power outages from severe weather have doubled over the past two decades across the US, as a warming climate stirs more destructive storms that cripple broad segments of the nation's aging electrical grid, according to an Associated Press analysis of government data.

Forty states are experiencing longer outages - and the problem is most acute in regions seeing more extreme weather, US Department of Energy data shows. The blackouts can be harmful and even deadly for the elderly, disabled and other vulnerable communities.