Officials in Texas continued to ask nearly 163,000 residents to boil their drinking water days after Hurricane Beryl left the state.
Beryl entered Texas on Monday as a Category 1 storm near the coastal town of Matagorda, before turning northeast to directly hit the city of Houston, where more than 2.5 million people in the area quickly lost power.
The storm continues to rip through Texas and other parts of the US on a northeasterly track, spawning tornadoes in several states as it weakens and eventually passes through Canada.
While Beryl left at least 10 people dead in Texas and caused significant property damage, many hurricane-affected residents in the Lone Star State also continue to struggle with power and clean drinking water shortages four days later.
TomBegasse
As of Friday, Texas has more than 700,000 power outages that remain unresolved, while about 162,895 residents in 22 counties are under a “Boil Water Notice” (BWN) due to drinking water systems that have been compromised by the storm.
“As of 12:30 today, we are tracking 259 drinking water systems located in BWN which has a population of 162,895,” said a spokesperson for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). Newsweek by email there. “Drinking water system in BWN spread across 22 districts affected by typhoon.”
Below is a list of affected districts, water systems and the number of residents who are still being asked to boil water as of Friday evening:
- Angelina County: 1 water system in BWN, affecting 53 residents.
- Brazoria County: 67 water systems in BWN, affecting 28,460 residents.
- Chambers County: 3 water systems in BWN, affecting 446 residents.
- Fort Bend County: 7 water systems in BWN, affecting 10,206 residents.
- Grimes County: 3 water systems in BWN, affecting 756 residents.
- Hardin County: 1 water system in BWN, affecting 108 residents.
- Houston County: 1 water system in BWN, affecting 9,557 residents.
- Harris County: 57 water systems in BWN, affecting 32,719 residents.
- Liberty County: 9 water systems in BWN, affecting 9,557 residents.
- Matagorda County: 11 water systems in BWN, affecting 4,051 residents.
- Montgomery County: 35 water systems in BWN, affecting 19,963 residents.
- Nacogdoches County: 2 water systems in BWN, affecting 9,834 residents.
- Orange County: 1 water system in BWN, affecting 99 residents.
- Polk County: 33 water systems in BWN, affecting 24,285 residents.
- San Augustine County: 5 water systems in BWN, affecting 4,170 residents.
- San Jacinto County: 12 water systems in BWN, affecting 5,687 residents.
- Trinity County: 4 water systems in BWN, affecting 3,038 residents.
- Tyler County: 2 water systems in BWN, affecting 5,880 residents.
- Upshur County: 1 water system in BWN, affecting 3,038 residents.
- Walker County: 2 water systems in BWN, affecting 653 residents.
- Waller County: 1 water system in BWN, affecting 240 residents.
- Wharton County: 1 water system in BWN, affecting 40 residents.
Residents who are unsure about the safety of their drinking water should contact their local water utility for additional information and updates.
Water systems can be damaged by hurricanes and other severe storms due to power outages, damaged service lines or flooding, which can lead to safe drinking water being contaminated by harmful pathogens.
In the system at BWN, the water may not be safe to drink unless it has been vigorously boiled for at least two minutes. The TCEQ website offers some tips on safe water use for those affected.
Uncommon knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for a common field.
