Repairing a disaster: Presidential declaration starts federal aid as region evaluates storms’ aftermath.
Water repairs underway; rising temps offer relief
AUSTIN, Texas – Warmer weather spread across the southern United States on Saturday, bringing some relief to a winter-weary region that faces a challenging clean-up and expensive repairs from days of extreme cold and widespread power outages.
In hard-hit Texas, where millions were warned to boil tap water before drinking it, the warm-up was expected to last for several days.
President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Texas on Friday, directing federal agencies to help in the recovery. He had approved states of emergency earlier in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
The fallout included busted water pipes and shortages of clean drinking water, the closure of the Memphis airport and hospitals struggling to maintain sanitary conditions.
At least 69 deaths have been blamed on the weather, including that of a man at an Abilene, Texas, health care facility where the lack of water pressure made medical treatment impossible.
Many people who perished were struggling to get warm. A Tennessee farmer died trying to save two calves that apparently wandered onto a frozen pond.
About 260,000 homes and businesses in the Tennessee county that includes Memphis were told to boil water because of water main ruptures and pumping station problems. Restaurants that could not do so or did not have bottled water were ordered to close.
Water pressure problems prompted Memphis International Airport to cancel all incoming and outgoing Friday flights, but the passenger terminal was expected to reopen sometime Saturday.
More than 192,000 Louisiana residents – some still struggling to recover from last August’s Hurricane Laura – had no water service Friday, according to the state health department. Tens of thousands more remained under boilwater advisories.
Bulk and bottled water deliveries were planned for the hardest-hit areas with a focus on hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis centers, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said, adding that he was hopeful that warmer weather expected during the weekend would speed up repairs.
Central Arkansas Water in the Little Rock area asked customers to conserve water to help protect its system as the ground began to warm and pipes thawed. The city of Hot Springs warned Thursday night that its water supply was “critically low.”
The storms left more than 300,000 still without power across the country by Saturday morning. About 60,000 in Oregon on Friday were still enduring a weeklong outage following a massive ice and snow storm. Oregon’s governor ordered the National Guard to go doorto-door in the hardest-hit areas to ensure residents have enough food and water.