Beach City neighborhood without water for days

BEACH CITY, Texas – A local neighborhood hasn't had water for days and it could take a while for it to be turned back on.

Bottled water is the hot commodity in the Bayridge neighborhood in Beach City in Chambers County.

Crews with Gulf Utility have been delivering it to residents ever since the community's water well went offline after a lightning strike during a storm Sunday morning.

"Three days without water. I mean, it ain't been like this since Ike," Ricky Labit said.

At least 75 homes have been affected and frustration is mounting. Some residents are using water from their swimming pools. Others, like John Alvarez, are driving 20 minutes into Baytown to buy 5-gallon jugs of water because they can't flush toilets, wash dishes or take baths.

"My wife took my kids over to a neighbor's house. They have a spa and they gave them a bath in the spa," John Alvarez said.

When utility crews came out to investigate, they realized they had to pull the water well and replace the pump. The city's mayor told Local 2 it's still not working.

"I'm almost out of water. Probably going to have to go back to the store again," Alvarez said.

Gulf Utility says restoring service to the neighborhood is the company's top priority. It has had some success on Tuesday with the repairs.

The city's mayor says the water company needs to drill another well to permanently fix the problem and that could take a week or even longer. Gulf Utility says it will have additional contingencies in place if the well issues continue.


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