Montgomery County officials said an electrical issue caused the water pump to malfunction in the Lexington Heights subdivision.
WILLIS, Texas — As freezing temperatures continue to grip Montgomery County, residents in one Willis neighborhood are facing another serious challenge: no running water.
People living in the Lexington Heights subdivision have been without water for more than 24 hours, according to county officials. The water stopped pumping sometime Saturday night amid bitterly cold temperatures.
While overpasses such as the bridge at Interstate 45 and Texas 242 were slick with spots of ice Sunday, residents in Willis’ Lexington Heights area said frozen water was not their problem. Their issue is that they had no water at all.
“The pressure started dying, just didn’t know if the main coming in was freezing up or something like that,” Willis resident Gabe Giles said.
Giles said he noticed the problem Saturday night, along with other neighbors in the subdivision.
After learning about the outage, Montgomery County officials set up a water distribution site Sunday afternoon, providing dozens of cases of bottled water to affected residents as they sheltered at home from the bitter cold.
Giles said the assistance is critical for his family.
“Huge. I mean, every little bit helps. I got two littles. We got two under two, so it definitely makes it a little more challenging not having water,” Giles said.
KHOU 11 asked Montgomery County Emergency Manager Jason Millsaps if the water issue was due to the cold weather.
“The utility provider is saying that they had an electrical issue which caused the pump to malfunction, and they’re waiting on a part to get here so they can repair that and get it up and running, so I don’t know if it’s weather-related per se. It could be, as people were trying to use more water, drip their faucets and things like that. However, it’s hard to say at this point,” Millsaps said.
Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough said he wanted to step in to help as soon as he became aware of the situation.
“We saw these people had a need. We have a warehouse full of stuff. And so, we decided, we got to help these people, and that’s what we’re doing right now,” Keough said. “This is what we do. This is Montgomery County.”
County officials said they are keeping in direct contact with the utility provider and are working to ensure water service is restored as quickly as possible.
For now, residents in Lexington Heights are relying on bottled water as they wait for repairs and for the temperatures to rise.
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