Water issues in Texas

AUSTIN: Some 8.8 million people in Texas, about a third of the state’s population, still had issues with their water supply as of yesterday, after a recordbreaking freeze knocked out power stations last week.

Millions of Texans are still being advised to boil water before using it, although all power plants were back online and power had been restored to most homes.

‘‘As of 7am central time Monday, more than 1200 public water systems have reported disruptions in service due to the weather, many of them leading to boil water notices. This is affecting more than 8.8 million people, in 199 Texas counties,’’ a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality spokesman said.

Eight wastewater treatment facilities were also nonoperational, he said.

A deadly winter storm caused widespread blackouts last week across Texas, killing at least two dozen people and knocking out power to more than 4 million people at its peak.

The mother of an 11yearold boy who died after they lost electricity and heat in their Texas mobile home during last week’s freeze has filed a $US100 million ($NZ136.7 million) lawsuit against two power companies for gross negligence.

Maria Pineda said the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and Entergy Corp were responsible for the death of her son Cristian, who was found unresponsive in bed on the morning of February 16 at home.

The complaint accused the defendants of ignoring a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recommendation following a 2011 freeze to ‘‘winterise’’ the power grid, and were caught ‘‘wholly unprepared’’ when the grid failed last week. — AAP/Reuters