Leaks from frozen pipes have pushed the water supply to the brink. According to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Executive Director Toby Baker, about 13 million Texans, nearly half of the state’s population, were left under a boil-water advisory Thursday. More than 700 water supply systems have been affected.
In Austin alone, the capital’s water supply lost 325 million gallons due to burst pipes, Austin Water Director Greg Meszaros said at a press conference Thursday.
“We know there are tens of thousands of leaks,” Meszaros said. “As indicated by the fire department, they have responded to thousands upon thousands of burst pipes.”
At its peak from Tuesday night to Wednesday, the system lost 325 million gallons, he said.
‘That’s an incredible amount of water. Nothing I’ve ever seen, ”he said.
While temperatures in the 60s and 70s are expected to provide relief next week, some Texans face another round of record lows from Friday evening to Saturday morning. More than 25 million people were under a harsh freeze warning for parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi through Friday morning.
In Carrollton, north of Dallas, John Mays, Jon Milton Blackburn and their three children had no heating or water in the house as of Monday. To fuel the fireplace, the family resorted to baseboards to keep warm.
“That was it, or we went after the dinner table,” Mays told Don Lemon on Thursday to CNN.
After a water pipe burst, the family took shelter in their church and expressed gratitude for the local leadership that provided warming stations.
“Anyway, this has been a great lesson for us about how important community is, and how important it is to stick together as a community,” said Mays.
Water scarcity warnings
Authorities warned at night that while power has largely been restored to the state, water supplies remain extremely low.
Waco Mayor Dillon Meek asked residents, industrial and commercial users to conserve water due to a lack of supply.
Meek said all companies should reduce water usage by at least 50%. He also encouraged car washes and laundries to stay closed all weekend. Restaurants were asked to use paper plates and other disposable items instead of washing dishes.
“Our water supply is critically low. We are currently pumping everything we can, but the main problems we are currently facing are leaks and high consumption,” Meek said in a video message on Thursday. “We pump twice as much as normal every day.”
If the situation worsens, some areas may have no water at all, depending on the pressure and height of the water system, he warned.
“And if system conditions deteriorate even more, the fire service will not have water for firefighting,” he said. “Our city workers have developed and continue to develop alternative methods of fire protection.”
A department near San Antonio was already at that point.
Bexar-Bulverde volunteer fire chief Jerry Bialick said on Thursday that the water supply was the number one concern when firefighters battled a major fire in an apartment in San Antonio.
“Right now the fire break is working quite well. Our main concern is the water supply,” said Bialick.
Many of the fire hydrants on site were frozen and there was no water, Bialick said. Crews had to take to the streets to fill their water tenders.
‘That’s our problem. Once we’ve made some headway on the fire, we’re out of water, ”he said.
Broken pipes coupled with the unusual freeze have damaged countless homes and businesses.
Dallas resident Thomas Black shared an image on social media that went viral featuring icicles hanging from a ceiling fan. He told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Thursday that he and his girlfriend “made it” and that he resorted to boiling water after getting tips from strangers.
He said many of his neighbors had to move to other homes that had power, but he expressed concern about gatherings given the current Covid-19 pandemic.
“Lack of preparedness … our infrastructure is just not ready for something like that,” Black said when asked how the water got on the fan.
Black has also posted other photos of his apartment building with flooded corridors, water pouring from ceilings into cupboards and frozen over indoor entrances.
When asked why he decided to post the images on social media, Black said, “I think every Texan’s blood needs to boil, that even this is the reality we live in … we are in a bad situation and worse.”
Government response to the storms
Gov. Greg Abbott announced late on Thursday that the state had filed a major disaster statement from the federal government, allowing “eligible Texans to request assistance in addressing broken pipes and related property damage,” according to a press release.
President Joe Biden spoke with Abbott on Thursday about the winter storms, and a White House statement said the president “shared his intentions to instruct additional federal agencies to look into any immediate steps that could be taken to support Texans.”
Abbott also plans to ask the legislature to “make winterization of the Texas electricity system mandatory and the legislature to secure the necessary funding for the winterization,” the press release said.
Abbott spoke earlier Thursday about the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the state’s electrical grid, and took responsibility for the failures to provide heat and power to Texans during the storms.
“I take responsibility for the current status of ERCOT. Again, I find what has happened unacceptable,” he said.
“We have already begun the process of making sure events like this never happen again in Texas, and it is starting to reform the body responsible for electrical reliability in Texas, which has not happened this week,” Abbott said. .
“Five days before the winter storm hit, the ERCOT CEO assured ERCOT, and I quote,” We are ready for the cold temperatures that are approaching us. ” ”
CNN reached out to ERCOT to comment on the governor’s latest statements.
ERCOT officials also said the power grid was “seconds or minutes” away from a catastrophic outage and complete blackout, if not for controlled outages implemented early Monday.
CNN’s Rob Shackelford, Dave Alsup, Hollie Silverman, Raja Razek, Allison Flexner, Matt Hoye and Keith Allen contributed to this report.