Millions of Texans are experiencing water issues, and many are reporting exorbitant utility bills following uncharacteristic winter weather in the Lone Star State.
As many as 13.7 million residents of the state are without water stability on Sunday, and many affected are under an advisory to boil their water, media relations specialist for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Greg Rasp, told the Washington Examiner. A total of 1,300 systems throughout 198 Texas counties have been compromised and have reported “disruptions in service.”
One-hundred and sixty-six boil water notices have been rescinded since the onset of the crises, Rasp said.
The announcement follows a host of fiery complaints from residents that utility bills are reaching costs as high as $17,000 for one month of service following rampant power outages. Ty Williams, who pays bills on three properties, reported the massive $17,000 cost to ABC 8 and indicated his payment for all three areas amounted to just over $600 last month.
“How in the world can anyone pay that? I mean you go from a couple hundred dollars a month … there’s absolutely no way … it makes no sense,” he told the outlet.
On Saturday, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott addressed the utility bill complaints and announced a bipartisan effort to combat the fees.
“We have a responsibility to protect Texans from spikes in their energy bills that are a result of the severe winter weather and power outages,” he said. “Today’s meeting was productive, and I applaud Republican and Democrat members of the Legislature for putting aside partisan politics to work together on this challenge. We are moving quickly to alleviate this problem and will continue to work collaboratively throughout this week on solutions to help Texas families and ensure they do not get stuck with skyrocketing energy bills.”
WATER PIPES BURSTING AND 500,000 BATTLE COLD WEATHER WITHOUT POWER IN TEXAS
Power outages in the Lone Star State reached a peak of 3.8 million customers without electricity earlier in the week. That number has since leveled off to around 32,000 total customers experiencing faulty service at the time of publishing.
On Thursday, water pipes, some of which were reinforced with metal, burst at the seams and in some cases sent water jetting through the ground as frigid, subzero temperatures reached levels near 32 degrees. Around 264,000 residents were experiencing water issues at the time, but that number has since ballooned to more than 50 fold.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said on Sunday that his city needs “a lot of plumbing materials and supplies” to combat the crisis.
“Let me just say right now with so many homes across the city having pipes that burst because of the frigid weather and major leaks, major water damage, we need a lot of plumbing materials and supplies, like right now,” he said on CBS’s Face the Nation. “We have a number of licensed plumbers but could use even more. But the main thing is that even when plumbers are going out, it’s very difficult to find the necessary materials and supplies. And we are needing water as well for people across the board.”
READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER BY CLICKING HERE
President Biden, who implemented a major disaster declaration in Texas, plans to visit the Lone Star State once his presence would be less of a burden to emergency services. The White House said federal agencies have delivered 60 generators, more than 60,000 blankets, and 729,000 liters of water.
