HOUSTON – Houston Public Works has identified seven apartments that are still without water Friday following the last month’s winter freeze. The department said this information is based on 311 calls.
Public works crews are monitoring the apartment buildings daily to make sure plumbers are on-site and working to restore water service, Director of Communications Alanna Reed said in an email.
Villas Del Paseo on Elmside Drive is one of the apartments on the city’s list.
“The water has not been on since the first night of the freeze,” said resident Crystal Williams.
Another resident, Jimmy Ivory, said he has also been without water.
“The pipes burst during the freeze and after the power came back on, we got concerned because our water was still off,” Ivory said.
A woman who lives in the complex said part of her unit was damaged after a pipe broke. She said the pipe has been fixed but still has a leak.
A truck from a plumbing company was parked at the complex on Friday afternoon.
A man identified by employees as the complex manager said he’s been working to get the service back online. Bottled water was also seen in front of the leasing office.
The city said if anyone is still without water, they should call 311 to report the situation.
It’s possible additional communities are having water issues but they may not have been reported yet, Reed said.
UPDATE: After our story aired, we received this comment from the community manager at Villas Del Paseo:
“Our team has been working tirelessly to restore water for our residents and will continue to work nonstop until water access is completely restored. Currently the east side of the property has water. We are doing everything we can to restore water fully for the remaining residents on the west side of the property. One of the biggest challenges continues to be access to needed supplies, labor and resources, an issue many are experiencing across Texas. We are working hard to overcome this and have even rented a U-Haul to transport needed supplies ourselves to get them to the community so that we can get repairs completed and water restored as quickly as possible for our residents.”