Some Houston neighborhoods remain without running water after roughly 5 days
HOUSTON - A humanitarian crisis continues across Texas and in the City of Houston. After roughly five days, power has been restored for much of the area. However, many homes still remain without running water. In addition, Harris County is still under a ‘boil water’ order.
"We don’t know when we’re going to get the water back," said Jaime Aguilera.
According to Aguilera, their entire neighborhood of roughly 200 homes doesn’t have running water. Aguilera says their water shutoff when the deep freeze first started roughly five days ago. His family lives in a neighborhood near HWY 90 and the Sam Houston Tollway.
"Everybody is asking the same question, when is the water going to come," said Aguilera. "The only thing I can say is, I don’t know. You have people 4-5 days without showering. People with dishes piled-up."
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We also spoke to Dean Harrell about the situation. Harrell lives in the same neighborhood as Aguilera. We met Harrell and Aguilera separately as they each used coolers and buckets to transport water to their homes.
"I’ve got a cooler full of water to flush with, and some extra water in case I have to pour those in the toilet too," said Harrell.
As running water has been restored for much of the area, Aguilera wonders why their neighborhood remains dry.
"They never lost power," said Aguilera, referring to high-income neighborhoods. "They never lost water. They’re comfortable over there. What about us? What about these families? We all pay taxes."
City and County officials say the outages were widespread and impacted almost all of Houston. In addition, we’re told the unusually cold temperatures damaged infrastructure and is causing some places to take longer for running water to be restored.
"I’m getting text messages from friends about where to go get water, but nothing so far about getting it in homes," said Harrell.
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Grocery stores in the area seemed to have more food and water supplies on Friday. However, some items are still sparse or missing.
"They have some meat," said Cynthia Contreras outside a Houston Kroger. "There’s still no bread. They’re bringing out pallets of water right now. No dairy products. No eggs."
A boil-water order remains in effect throughout the Houston and Harris County area. This, while some neighborhoods are still without running water to boil. City leaders say it could be at least Sunday before the boil-water order is lifted, but that could still be optimistic. Officials haven't been able to provide a firm timeline on when running water will be restored to all homes.
"Why can’t they stand up and say what’s really happening?" asked Aguilera.