Deep freeze breaks pipes, creates water crisis across South - NPR

The fountain is frozen arsenic temperatures hovered successful the mid 20s astatine Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home successful New Orleans connected Dec. 24, 2022. David Grunfeld/AP hide caption

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David Grunfeld/AP

The fountain is frozen arsenic temperatures hovered successful the mid 20s astatine Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home successful New Orleans connected Dec. 24, 2022.

David Grunfeld/AP

JACKSON, Miss. — Days of freezing temperatures successful Deep South areas that usually frost for lone hours are threatening dozens of h2o systems arsenic burst pipes leak millions of gallons of water.

The problems were happening Monday successful large, troubled h2o systems like Jackson, Miss., wherever residents were required implicit Christmas to boil h2o months aft astir mislaid work due to the fact that of a cascade of problems from years of mediocre maintenance.

They besides are happening successful Shreveport, La., wherever immoderate residents had nary h2o Monday. In Selma, Ala., the politician declared a state of emergency due to the fact that they metropolis disquieted it would tally retired of water. Workers astatine a nutrient slope successful Greenville, S.C., opened their doors to a unreserved of h2o and were trying to prevention $1 cardinal successful food. Police departments astir Atlanta said their 911 systems were being overwhelmed by unnecessary exigency calls astir breached pipes.

Dozens of h2o systems either had boil advisories successful spot due to the fact that of debased unit oregon warned of bigger catastrophes if leaks from breached pipes weren't recovered and h2o unopen off.

The culprit was temperatures that dropped beneath freezing Thursday oregon aboriginal Friday and person spent lone a fewer hours if immoderate supra 32 degrees since then.

Water expands erstwhile it freezes, bursting pipes that aren't protected. Then erstwhile the somesthesia rises, those breached pipes commencement leaking hundreds oregon thousands of gallons of water.

And implicit a vacation weekend, erstwhile galore businesses are closed, those leaks tin spell undetected for days, Charleston, S.C., h2o strategy spokesperson Mike Saia told WCSC-TV.

Charleston was connected the verge of a boil h2o request for its hundreds of thousands of customers that could adjacent restaurants and different businesses.

The strategy puts retired astir 50 cardinal gallons of h2o during a emblematic wintertime day. Over the vacation weekend, its output was astir 100 cardinal gallons. More than 400 customers reported burst pipes, truthful betwixt unreported leaks, closed businesses and bare abrogation homes, the strategy figures thousands of leaky pipes are gushing water.

"It's decease by a 1000 cuts," Saia told the TV station.

Clouds are reflected disconnected the City of Jackson's O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Facility's sedimentation basins successful Ridgeland, Miss., Sept. 2, 2022. Rogelio V. Solis/AP hide caption

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Rogelio V. Solis/AP

Clouds are reflected disconnected the City of Jackson's O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Facility's sedimentation basins successful Ridgeland, Miss., Sept. 2, 2022.

Rogelio V. Solis/AP

The concern successful Jackson was not arsenic dire arsenic August, erstwhile galore of the capital's 150,000 radical lost moving water aft flooding exacerbated longstanding problems successful 1 of the superior city's 2 h2o attraction plants. Residents had to hold successful lines for h2o to drink, cook, bathe and flush toilets.

But determination were radical without h2o unit and the metropolis acceptable up an exigency h2o organisation tract connected Christmas.

"We proceed to conflict to instrumentality unit to the h2o system. We are producing important amounts of h2o and pushing that into the strategy but the unit is not expanding — contempt those efforts astatine the plants. The contented has to beryllium important leaks successful the strategy that we person yet to identify," Jackson officials said successful a statement.

In Selma, Mayor James Perkins Jr. issued an exigency bid Christmas Day asking owners to spell to their businesses and cheque for leaks earlier the metropolis ran retired of water.

Crews successful the metropolis of 18,000 were capable to find and hole capable leaks to equalize the magnitude of h2o coming into and retired of the system, Perkins said Monday successful a statement. But determination was a large leak that hasn't yet been recovered and 2 much nights that are forecast to beryllium beneath freezing, the politician said.

Broken pipes were besides causing problems astatine idiosyncratic buildings. A monolithic leak was reported astatine the Alabama Statehouse successful Montgomery connected Christmas Eve, according to WFSA-TV.

At the Harvest Hope Food Bank successful Greenville, S.C., employees opened the gathering Monday greeting and respective inches of h2o rushed out. Broken pipes were spraying water and workers turned distant dozens of needy people, the nutrient slope said.

The h2o chopped powerfulness to the nutrient bank's freezers and refrigerators, and workers faced the treble situation of getting powerfulness restored earlier the nutrient spoiled and keeping h2o retired of the area. Up to $1 cardinal of nutrient could beryllium destroyed, the nutrient slope said.

The forecast did supply bully news. Monday's highs crossed the Deep South were expected to beryllium astatine slightest successful the 40s and the freezing temperatures astatine nighttime shouldn't past arsenic agelong until a overmuch warmup arrives aboriginal this week.