Millions of Texans Struggle for Drinking Water Following Deadly Winter Storm

By Staff, Agencies

Millions of Texans are facing water shortages after the deadly winter storm ravaging the state caused pipes to burst and treatment plants to back up, disrupting services and contaminating supplies.

Texas officials ordered 7 million people – a quarter of the population of the nation’s second-largest state – to boil tap water before drinking it following days of record low temperatures that damaged infrastructure and froze pipes.

The disruption to water supplies comes after winter storms caused widespread blackouts as they wreaked havoc on the state’s power grid and utilities, leaving millions without power for days.

And while the Texas governor Greg Abbott said on Thursday afternoon that all power generating plants in the state were back online, hundreds of thousands of homes still remain without energy because of downed lines and other issues after a ferocious winter storm and cold snap, and more than 13 million Texans are still seeing interruptions in their water services.

Hospitals in Austin and Houston have been among those struggling with disruption to water supplies.

Austin Water said its water treatment plants were stable on Wednesday, but it was still facing “significant challenges” in restoring water to customers.

Angelica Baton, an ICU nurse in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, said: “The past couple of days have been pretty crazy … We had a flood. Pipes burst onto a patient. We had to move that patient. Luckily, everyone was communicative.”

Water pressure has fallen across the state because lines have frozen, and many residents are leaving faucets dripping in hopes of preventing pipes from freezing, said Toby Baker, executive director of the Texas commission on environmental quality.

Abbott urged residents to shut off water to their homes, if possible, to prevent more busted pipes and preserve pressure in municipal systems.