FOREST PARK, Ga. — Clayton County Water Authority was hard at work Monday, repairing leaks and distributing water to people dealing with outages.
CCWA opened water distribution sites this week and provided one case of water per vehicle until supplies last. On Tuesday, the water authority passed out more than 3,300 cases of water, and the department continued its efforts on Wednesday. They will pass water out on Thursday at one of their facilities off Flint River Road.
People are asked to arrive at 5:15 p.m. and enter through 8890 Roberts Road in Jonesboro.
In Forest Park, the city gave away hundreds of cases of water outside of its police department to anyone who needed it Monday. They plan to host another distribution event at Forest Park Recreation Center Tuesday at 9 a.m.
Forest Park staff says they bought about 200 cases of water, and in just three hours, all of those cases were gone.
Maria Landeros and her husband, Victor, have lived in Forest Park for 30 years.
"It’s not a great feeling and we are sad because on Christmas, I woke up to make tamales and realized we had no water," Maria said in Spanish. "This made me cry because I wanted to cook that for my family. Now we’re worried because we don’t know when the water might come back."
Cars lined up around the corner of the police department, with people waiting to get their cases, after spending the holiday with no water or low water pressure in their homes.
The Landeros say they have never experienced a water outage like this. They lost all water on Christmas Day.
"We're here to use the water for the most basic needs - for the bathroom. We can hold off on showering, but we want to use the water for the rest. I feel like we went back to 50 or 60 years ago with this happening," Victor said.
CCWA staff says they have been responding to leaks after freezing temperatures caused some pipes to break. The county has issued a boil water advisory for some residents.
County leaders said many of the leaks reported Monday were in warehouses, businesses, schools, and churches.
Forest Park Mayor Angelyne Butler said she lost all water at her home, too. She hopes people remember to put things into perspective.
"I know this may seem bleak but if we have little pressure, consider yourself blessed. If you have no pressure, such as myself, consider yourself blessed. There are so many other tragedies that could go on, that we are truly blessed when we look at the bigger scheme of things," Butler said.
Butler says the city is expecting to receive more water cases from GEMA and will let residents know when that happens.
"Words cannot explain how important this is," she said. "We ended our Christmas holiday with confusion and uncertainty and discomfort with not having water or little water pressure, but we’re beginning the first day of Kwanzaa and the first principle is Umoja, which means unity. Unity in family and community. This is the perfect manifestation of unity within the community."
While the CCWA has not provided Butler with a timeline on when the water could return, she suggests reaching out to the city's non-emergency number at (404) 366-7280 with any concerns.