'All hands on deck': Forsyth County residents frustrated by water outage and safety concerns
‘All hands on deck’: Forsyth County residents frustrated by water outage and safety concerns
A water main outage in Forsyth County has left residents without water and concerned about its safety, as city utility officials work to resolve the issue.
A major water main outage in Forsyth County has left residents without water and concerned about its safety, with city utility officials working since Tuesday evening to address the issue.
“I’m skeptical. I’m not using the water, so I’m going to boil my water. We went and bought three cases of water,” said Tabby Jefferies, a downtown Winston-Salem resident.
“I don’t want to drink it, I don’t want to bathe in it, I don’t want my kids to come in contact with it either,” said another resident, Equasha Hayes.
The outage has left many residents frustrated and puzzled.
“I’m not liking this. They need to get things together and fix the issue fast,” said Jefferies.
City utility officials said they discovered the outage Tuesday evening and immediately began working to resolve it.
“This has never happened before. This is uncharted water for us,” said Bill Brewer, deputy director for Winston-Salem Forsyth County Utilities.
Many residents first noticed the problem during their normal routines.
“My wife went to the bathroom, used the bathroom, and it didn’t flush,” said Jefferies.
“The water was off, wasn’t dripping, nothing, it was completely off,” said Hayes.
During a news briefing Wednesday, utility officials could not provide a timeline for when water service would be restored.
“So there’s no specific time on when people can see water restored,” an official said.
“We’re assessing the situation,” Brewer added.
Some residents have reported seeing discolored water when turning on their faucets, with video showing black water coming out.
A church in Kersville has opened its doors to distribute water to the community.
As residents wait for answers, many are finding ways to adapt.
“In about an hour, we’re about to leave to go to a friend’s house to take a shower,” said Jefferies.
Water distribution is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Thursday at four locations.
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