Small North Texas Town Going Without Water
HORSESHOE BEND, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - A North Texas town is desperate for water and help. Residents of Horseshoe Bend haven't had water since Sunday.
People who live in the tiny town in Parker County say this is just the latest water issue in an ordeal that goes back months.
"Sunday at 4:30 p.m.," is when Candace Gibbons says the water went out in her home in Horseshoe Bend. "We were washing the dogs."
Since then, there's been no cooking, cleaning or bathing or flushing toilets.
"My husband, who is a combat vet, who works 14 hours a day in the heat walking through attics for an air conditioning company, hadn't had a shower in two days, and he went and bathed in the Brazos River last night with a bar of soap," said Gibbons.
Aside from people, pets and livestock in this area of Parker County are thirsty, too. Someone left a handwritten note at one of the water tanks for the water company, Horseshoe Bend Water reading, "Animals are starting to die."
Neither the water company or its parent company, Texas Rain, answered our calls. The water company told the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality that a leak was to blame. Officials at Parker County say they can't get in touch with the water company either.
After getting calls from the media, Parker County said it would send down water for livestock. The Red Cross dropped off bottled drinking water at the fire station and the Salvation Army says it will be there Friday morning.
Water started coming back on in some, homes Thursday evening. Residents told us the water pressure varied and in some cases, it was just a trickle.
"I don't believe this is a long-term fix, the fact that the water cane back on," said resident Brenda Wilde.
Residents of Horseshoe Bend say they have been through this before.
"Water problems started Christmas Day," said Gibbons. "We woke up, had no water, had no answers no explanations.
Since then, the community has lost water multiple times for days at a time. They've also been under water restrictions and a mandatory boil water notice since April.
"They can't tell us a solution or a time frame to get it fixed, and that's getting to be normal out here," said Wilde. "It should not be normal. It should not be a third-world country."
People in the same community say they don't know where else to turn. They've already reached out to the governors office, the Texas Environmental Commission, the Public Utilities Commission and local elected officials.
No one has been able to help yet. They wonder how back things will have to get before someone with authority holds the water company responsible.
