Corpus Christi residents line up outside Sam’s Club on South Padre Island Drive Dec. 15, waiting for a shipment of bottled water to arrive. Stores quickly sold out after the city issued a no-use ban on tap water that lasted four days. Photo by Roland Chiapoco
An oil-based petroleum chemical has contaminated the city’s water system, causing school closures from Corpus Christi to Kingsville. Only Portland and Port Aransas water is safe to drink, announced city officials on the afternoon of Wednesday, Dec. 14.
Do not use the water, they advised. Not even boiling will fix this problem. The water should not be used for washing hands, clothes or bathing.The advisory is in effect for all of Corpus Christi, including Flour Bluff, Calallen and Annabelle, causing a run on bottled water at local stores.
Schools are closed in the West Oso, Kingsville, Corpus Christi and Flour Bluff districts. Catholic Schools of Corpus Christi and Seashore Charter Schools on The Island are also closed.
Bottle water is being shipped in on an emergency basis Dec. 15, including Walmart in Flour bluff and all local H-E-Bs. Water is being shipped to H-E-Bs from San Antonio stores.
A report of dirty water was called in to the city late afternoon Dec. 15. City investigators say a back flow preventer failed in an area between two industrial companies, which they would not name. Both the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Centers for Disease Control are involved.
