davisn456
Member
I hadn't seen any other posts about this yet, but if I missed it, please forgive the redundancy. We've had a rather serious situation happen in the area where I live, and it brought to a lot of people's attention how unprepared we are for disasters, both to take care of ourselves as well as our pets.
On Thursday, January 9, approximately 7500 gallons of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol leaked into the Elk River near Charleston, WV. Less than a mile downstream from the leak is the primary intake for WV American Water Supply's treatment plant. This plant provides water to one of the most densely populated areas of WV. An estimated 300,000+ residents were affected. The state issued a Do Not Use warning to all customers in the affected area, meaning that the water was not safe for anything other than flushing toilets.
Restaurants, daycares, offices, hospitals, and homes...think about how water is used, and what happens when you can't wash dishes, do laundry, take a bath, or even get a drink. Needless to say, lots of people are furious, and very scared.
The good news is that my family live in areas that are on separate water systems, so we were unaffected. But several of my coworkers have been without water since Thursday night. And, we have no timeline as to when this will be fixed.
The relevance to this forum -- keep emergency supplies on hand, both for you and your pets. You never know when a storm, natural disaster, or in this case, a man-made disaster could affect you. The sight of our residents of WV lined up in the streets waiting for handouts of bottled water from the National Guard looked like something out of one of those documentaries of relief workers in some 3rd world country. It's hard to believe that something like this could even happen, and it's even more unbelievable that it could affect so many.
On Thursday, January 9, approximately 7500 gallons of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol leaked into the Elk River near Charleston, WV. Less than a mile downstream from the leak is the primary intake for WV American Water Supply's treatment plant. This plant provides water to one of the most densely populated areas of WV. An estimated 300,000+ residents were affected. The state issued a Do Not Use warning to all customers in the affected area, meaning that the water was not safe for anything other than flushing toilets.
Restaurants, daycares, offices, hospitals, and homes...think about how water is used, and what happens when you can't wash dishes, do laundry, take a bath, or even get a drink. Needless to say, lots of people are furious, and very scared.
The good news is that my family live in areas that are on separate water systems, so we were unaffected. But several of my coworkers have been without water since Thursday night. And, we have no timeline as to when this will be fixed.
The relevance to this forum -- keep emergency supplies on hand, both for you and your pets. You never know when a storm, natural disaster, or in this case, a man-made disaster could affect you. The sight of our residents of WV lined up in the streets waiting for handouts of bottled water from the National Guard looked like something out of one of those documentaries of relief workers in some 3rd world country. It's hard to believe that something like this could even happen, and it's even more unbelievable that it could affect so many.
