A state of emergency was declared in Atlanta on Saturday evening following two water main breaks, Mayor Andre Dickens announced at a press conference.
The massive disruption was reported Friday evening, resulting in a boil water advisory from the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management.
We are “working around the clock to bring us safe drinking water in the city of Atlanta,” Mayor Dickens said.
“I know it has been a tough and frustrating day for many of you,” Dickens said. “We all take this matter very seriously.”
Workers respond to a broken water transmission line Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Atlanta. Much of Atlanta, including all of downtown, has been without water since Friday afternoon after crews began work to repair breaks on transmission lines in the downtown area. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Mike Stewart/AP
Of the two water main breaks, one had been fixed at the time of the presser, and water was currently being restored to those affected by the particular outage. Authorities are waiting for a part to arrive to fix the second main break, and the timeline to fix the break remains uncertain, officials said.
Grady Hospital and Emory University Hospital are accepting patients and are fully operational, having enough water to “keep people safe and healthy,” the mayor said.
Earlier on Saturday, prior to one of the water main breaks being repaired, Emory University Hospital Midtown rerouted ambulance traffic to other locations but urgent surgeries were able to continue, a spokesperson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The two major breaks occurred at Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and James P. Brawley Drive, and one at 11th Street NE and West Peachtree Street NE.
The break at Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and James P. Brawley Drive has been fixed, the mayor said. The Department of Watershed Management is building back pressure in the system so that those affected by this outage should be seeing their water restored now or soon, Dickens added.
The city expects to have 100 pallets of water delivered later this evening to disperse to those in need.
