CHILDRESS, Texas (KVII) — The City of Childress declared a local state of disaster Friday amidst the area’s ongoing drought conditions that have left the entire city under a boil water notice since Tuesday.
The municipality issued a local state of disaster on Friday, Sept. 11 saying the city has suffered widespread threat to life and property due to evaporated disinfectant residuals.
Disinfectant residuals are used to keep city water safe. The proclamation cites “extreme heat, high ground temperatures, and ongoing drought conditions” as the cause for the disinfectants evaporating.
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This has left residents under a city-wide boil water notice since Tuesday.
The City is also under Stage 4 of their Drought Contingency Plan, which declares an “emergency water shortage condition.”
The emergency water shortage stems from current levels in Lake Greenbelt being extremely low, causing the Greenbelt Municipal Water Authority to place its customers under mandatory water rationing.
On Friday, with the declaration, the city “determined that extraordinary measures must be taken to alleviate the suffering of people and to protect or rehabilitate property.”
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In a social media post, Childress Mayor Cary Preston said the city “declared the local state of disaster because of the water issues” and boil water notice.
He said, “this opens the door for assistance from the State of Texas.”
Childress County Judge Kim Jones issued the same declaration for Childress County.
The proclamation outlines the state’s 7-day timeframe from the date the declaration is filed. This timeframe may be extended by Childress’ city council.