Millions of Texans continue to be advised to boil water before use after a blizzard, although all the power plants were back up and running over the weekend and electricity was restored to most homes when weather returned to normal.
“As of 7 a.m. on Monday, more than 1,200 water systems reported a weather disruption. Boiling drinking warnings must be issued in many regions, ” a spokesman for the Texas Environmental Quality Board (TCEQ) said in an emailed statement.
“This situation is affecting directly more than 8.8 million people, in 199 counties of Texas.”
As of Sunday, officials in Houston, the state’s largest city, said the water is safe to use without boiling.
“A total of 147 water purification systems for a community of 120,000 people are completely useless. In addition, the eight wastewater treatment systems cannot operate either, ” report by TCEQ.
Governor Greg Abbott said he joined the Texas Air Guard, Texas National Guard and the federal army to distribute water.
“About 3.5 million bottles of water have been delivered,” the governor said via Twitter message.
Texas is also pulling in plumbers from out of state to help repair broken pipes, Abbott said.
“And uninsured homeowners or tenants can request reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Administration (FEMA),” said Governor Abbott.
The FEMA said it had sent out generators, water, and blankets to Texas, and was preparing diesel refueling to support the power generation system in this state.