3 million Texans boil water amid ‘plumbing catastrophe,’ food shortages after devastating storm

“The water itself, it’s really coming out all yellow,” said one San Antonio mom.

David Medina is reflected in his side mirror as he goes through at a San Antonio Food Bank drive-thru food distribution site Friday.Eric Gay / AP

By Suzanne Gamboa and Corky Siemaszko
NBC

SAN ANTONIO — The number of Texans who were boiling their water to make it safe to drink plunged to 3 million Wednesday from 8 million the day before as platoons of plumbers and engineers worked around the clock to repair the countless homes and businesses damaged by a cruel winter storm.

Many Texans also faced food shortages as grocery stores tried to stay stocked, huge crowds descended on food pantries, and the pandemic continued to threaten a state where, according to the latest NBC News data, nearly 43,000 people have died of Covid-19 and 2.6 million people have been infected.

Some 13,000 people were without any running water Wednesday after the public water systems they rely on were rendered “nonoperational” by the unseasonably cold winter blast, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality reported.

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