Houston Boil Notice: Residents scramble to buy bottled water
HOUSTON - With the boil water notice in Houston remaining in effect until further notice, people spent Monday flocking to stores to grab bottled water.
MORE: What does a boil water notice mean? What do I need to do?
Businesses in Houston are limiting customers to two cases of water on Monday. Kroger, for example, says their stores have activated their emergency plan, one that’s typically used during natural disasters.
"We kind of consider this as an emergency because everybody needs water. We have a distribution center in the city of Houston, and we have a facility not far from here in the state of Texas; they actually bottle the water for us. So, we can get water here within a couple of hours to the city of Houston," said Teresa Dickerson with Kroger Communications.
ARE YOU IMPACTED? Houston Public Works website shows if your address affected by boil water notice
Keeping the shelves consistently stocked with water in stores and online has been challenging since the boil water notice was issued Sunday night.
"The aisle was completely empty," said Debra Santos, a Kroger customer and parent. "There was no water left except sparkling water."
Boil water notice issued for majority of Harris County, Houston area
FOX 26's Damali Keith shares more as the City of Houston remains under a boil water notice issued and Sylvester Mayor Turner gave a press conference earlier Monday about what officials are looking into and when the notice could be lifted.
With multiple districts like Houston, Aldine, and Spring Branch ISD canceling school Monday, families with young kids staying home hope the boil notice is lifted ASAP.
"The kids have never dealt with anything like this, maybe during the freeze," Santos continued. "They’re used to just brushing their teeth in the morning. You have to keep an eye on them, so they don’t run to the fridge, fill up their water, put the water in their mouth, brush their teeth with it, all those things."
CLOSED AGAIN: Houston ISD campuses to be closed on Tuesday
Many Houstonians reported accidentally drinking the water before they knew about the alert.
Joanna Flores is 9 months pregnant and is praying the city gets the all-clear before her big day this Friday.
"It’s actually my due date this Friday so hopefully like even in the hospital, we’ll be at Children’s Memorial, they’re alright as well and equipped with water," Flores said.