An oil pumpjack in Odessa, Texas, in March 2022. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Much of Odessa, Texas, was without running water Tuesday after a major water line break struck the city of more than 122,000 people.
Why it matters: The line break and water outage coincided with temperatures creeping into the upper 90s.
The big picture: The city may remain without water for a total of 48 hours, creating the "imminent threat" of "widespread or severe damage, injury, or loss of life or property," according to a disaster declaration from the Ector County Office of Emergency Management.
- Temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday are also expected to reach the high 90s.
What they're saying: The city issued a boil water advisory for much of the city on Tuesday, though it said, "citizens should expect a significant loss in water pressure and/or no water at all."
- "A significant portion of the community remains without water at this time," the city said around 2 p.m. local time.
- "Crews are actively working to close valves in the system to isolate the break, however, this is taking longer than anticipated."
- It asked people to limit water use for only essential and started handing out one case of water per vehicle at four different points around the city.