Texas Winter Storm: Mayor Resigns After Telling Residents 'Only The Strong Will Survive’

Dealing with power outages and an unusual winter storm, the residents of a city in Texas were dealt another blow when the mayor resigned after telling them to stop complaining about the cold.

Tim Boyd, the mayor of Colorado City, stepped down on Tuesday after stating in Facebook post that it's not the local government’s responsibility to support citizens during trying times like this.

“The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING! I’m sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout,” he said in the now-deleted Facebook post, according to NBC News.

Millions of people were left without power in Texas this week as temperatures dropped below freezing and snow blanketed areas. Officials have warned that electricity may not return until the weekend.

A shortage of water also was reported as treatment plants experienced energy blackouts. Around 12 million people in the state either have no drinking water or it’s only available intermittently.

“If you don’t have electricity you step up and come up with a game plan to keep your family warm and safe,” Boyd told citizens in the Facebook post. “If you have no water you deal with out and think outside of the box to survive and supply water to your family.”

“Only the strong will survive and the weak will parish [perish],” he also wrote.

Boyd followed up with another post in which he announced his resignation and said he had not signed up to run again for mayor again earlier this month. It isn't, however, clear if he resigned before or after the first Facebook post.

He also said that many of the things were “taken out of context.”

“I would never want to hurt the elderly or anyone that is in true need of help to be left to fend for themselves. I was only making the statement that those folks that are too lazy to get up and fend for themselves but are capable should not be dealt a handout,” he said in the follow-up post.

Boyd apologized for the “wording and some of the phrases that were used.” He also revealed that his wife had been fired from her job over his comments.