The citizens of Beaumont, TX are in deep trouble. Not only has this city of 120 thousand people seen wide-spread flooding that has caused many to lose their homes, local news is now reporting that they have lost their water supply:
Harvey knocks out Beaumont's water supply
Posted: 1:28 AM, August 31, 2017
BEAUMONT, Texas - The City of Beaumont has lost service from its main pump station due to rising waters of the Neches River.
The pump station is located along the Neches River and draws water from the river as the main source of water for the City’s water system.
Beaumont has also lost its secondary water source at the Loeb wells in Hardin County.
www.click2houston.com/…
This means that over 100 thousand people are going to lose access to drinking water and will either have to evacuate or be supplied with drinking water from the outside. The Neches River is flooding at an alarming rate and won’t be cresting in Beaumont until Fri/Sat, so these people are going to be without water for quite some time. This is also a logistical nightmare, since virtually all the highways into the Beaumont-Port Arthur Metro Area from Texas are flooded and access from Louisiana is difficult, at best.
If Obama were still president, I would not be as worried about enough supplies getting in, but with Mr. photo op/campaign rally-muppet head- egomaniac now being in charge, I am not sure that the resources will be in place to handle this situation.
Thursday, Aug 31, 2017 · 8:57:50 AM +00:00 · Lawrence
Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for the upper Neches River, south of Lake Steinhagen.
Mandatory evacuation ordered on Neches River
by KFDM/Steve Stewart, KJAS
Wednesday, August 30th 2017
JASPER — Jasper County Judge Mark Allen early Wednesday afternoon issued a mandatory evacuation for residents along the Neches River south of Dam B. The mandatory evacuation went into effect at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
The U.S. Corps of Engineers said outflow from the dam was increased from 26,000 cubic feet per second on Tuesday to 43,000 on Wednesday.
However, Allen said the Corps is telling him that inflow into Lake Steinhagen is approximately 60,000 cubic feet per second, and he said that it is very likely that the dam will soon have to go to full release status.
kfdm.com/...
The Neches River Basin received more rainfall from Harvey than any other area in Texas. More than Houston. It should thus be assumed that flooding on the Neches, which runs through the Beaumont-Port Arthur Metro Area, where 400 thousand people live, will be worse than on any other river in Texas. All that water being released from Lake Steinhagen is now making its way down to Beaumont and Port Arthur, which are already flooded in large parts.
Thursday, Aug 31, 2017 · 2:12:09 PM +00:00 · Lawrence
The Beaumont Hospital is evacuating all patients due to water loss and is basically shutting down:
Baptist Hospitals moving patients due to failed water pump
KBMT 9:00 AM. CDT August 31, 2017
BEAUMONT - The City of Beaumont has lost its water supply after rising waters due to Tropical Storm Harvey knocked out the systems main input pump.
The city is anticipated to lose water pressure in the system in the next three to four hours according to a release from the City of Beaumont.
The Baptist Hospitals of Southeast Texas began transferring patients Thursday morning because of the pump failure. They released the following statement on Facebook.
"Due to the failure of the city's water pump, it is in the best interest of our current patients to transfer to other acute care facilities. Due to the city-wide lack of services, we have no other alternative but to discontinue all services which will include emergency services. This is being done immediately."
www.thv11.com/...