STILL GOING ON

Half a Million Texans Still Don’t Have Safe Drinking Water, Says Report

Some people in Dallas have gone weeks without being able to do their laundry, and parents can’t bathe their kids. But there is a bit of progress in Jackson, Mississippi.

Over half a million Texans are still living under boil-water notices more than a week since a once-in-a-generation winter storm brought complete chaos to the state, CNN reports. Boil-water notices are brought in when problems in the distribution system create a risk that water, if consumed straight from the tap, could pose an “acute health risk” to people. Numbers from the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality reportedly show that, while over 17 million Texans have been lifted out of boil-water notices since the worst period of the storm, 509,206 people were still affected as of late Sunday. The lack of usable water means some people in Dallas have gone weeks without being able to do their laundry, and parents are having to keep children from playing because they can’t bathe them. “I feel so frustrated,” said Houston resident Coaquies Davis. “It’s hard on us and our kids. I’ve been keeping them inside because you can’t get too dirty if you can't bathe.”

Meanwhile, crews in Jackson, Mississippi, are said to have made progress Sunday in an attempt to restore water service to tens of thousands of residents in parts of the city that have been out completely since the crippling winter storm nearly two weeks ago.