With a winter storm wreaking havoc in many southern US states, temperatures have plummeted so low that one child's fish tank in Texas completely froze over.
TikTok user @ray.k13 shared a video showing how her daughter's fish tank had turned into a solid block of ice - leaving little hope for the poor pet frozen inside.
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A caption on the clip said: "This is what it's like living in Texas rn."
In the video, the woman walks over to the tank and zooms inside so that others can see where the water has frozen over.
She says: "Look at my daughter's fish tank!
"Oh my God... Yeah, that fish is dead."
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The video has since been viewed more than 26 million times, with 2.7 million likes and 73,000 comments - including one from a concerned TikToker, who asked for an update on the fish.
In a follow-video, the mum explained how her wife put the heater on to help thaw out the tank, before a later update confirmed the fish was dead.
Some users seemed adamant that the animal may have still been alive, but the woman explained: "Look, since y'all so sure that homeboy is still alive - OK we left him just for y'all, and I'm gonna move him.
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"I don't know what y'all are seeing but homeboy is 100 percent belly-up y'all."
In the caption to the third video, she added: "Am I allowed to flush it now? Or what's the next step y'all?"
US President Joe Biden has approved a state of emergency in Texas, which has been facing some of its coldest temperatures in more than 30 years.
In some areas, temperatures even dropped to -18°C on Sunday, while a surge in demand for electricity has also led to widespread power cuts.
Francisco Sanchez, Harris County's Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator, told KPRC on Monday morning: "The safest place to be is in your home, even if you lose power.
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"It's going to get colder before it gets warmer. These conditions will not improve until Tuesday night or Wednesday morning."
According to the BBC, at least 21 deaths have been blamed on the US storm, with fatalities reported in Tennessee, Texas, Kentucky and Louisiana - along with North Carolina, where a tornado from the same storm left three dead and 10 injured.
The National Weather Service (NWS) said more than 150 million Americans were now under winter storm warnings, reporting on Tuesday (16 February) that over 73 percent of the country was currently covered in snow.
Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@ray.k13Topics: Texas, Weather, Fish, News, US News, Animals