Water Crisis, Aransas Pass – Final Release

Just as quickly as it began, it was over. And, thank the Good Lord and all those who helped make the response to this water crisis a huge success. Officially, the “no use” order was lifted on Sunday 06/27/2021 at 10:24 a.m. Here’s a copy of the official rescinding notice.

Here is a recap of all that either went into or resulted from the City’s emergency management response to the event. We sincerely appreciate all those who volunteered or donated, and we hope not to miss anyone.

Donations

• 40 pallets of water from TCEQ
• 95 pallets of water from TDEM
• 15 pallets of water H-E-B
• 12 pallets of water Port of CC
• Potable water tank from City of Portland
• Forklift and operator Buddy Issacs

Volunteers

• Aransas Pass Police Explorers Post #347
• Joe Dominguez, Texas Coast Comfort Systems
• Brian Williams, San Patricio Municipal Water District
• Jason Knight, Aransas Pass City Council Member
• Various City Staff who Donated their Weekend

Emergency Management Response Timeline

Friday, 06/25/2021

• 1600 – Emergency Management notified.
• 1628 – Initial Code Red, and FB notice sent.
• 1708 – City pool closed.
• 1710 – Over 200 pallets of water requested.
• 1538 – Skid steer/forklift staged at Civic center.
• 1745 – Virtual EOC meeting.
• 1910 – Phonebank in City Hall set up to answer questions.
• 1915 – Official notice sent via Codered and FB.
• 2030 – In-person meeting with City officials and key department heads.
• 2226 – Conformation that TCEQ via the Governor’s Office would fly the samples to labs.
• 2230 – All City staff notified that they would be subject to recall as needed.

Saturday, 06/26/2021

• 0700- 15 pallets of water from TCEQ arrived.
• 0830 – H-E-B’s 18 pallets of water arrived.
• 0900 – City staff and volunteers begin water distribution to citizens. 2 cases per car later upped to 3 per car.
• 0930 – FD began delivering water to the elderly and homebound.
• 1104-1300 – TDEM delivered 95 pallets of water.
• 1300 – TDEM asked to postpone any further water deliveries.
• 1600 – Transitioned to a self-serve delivery of water, supervised by private security hired by the PD.

Sunday, 06/27/2021

• 0700 – Self-service water distribution continues.
• 0730 – TCEQ delivered 15 more pallets of water.
• 1024 – TCEQ provides City with all clear notice & the City lifts the ban on water consumption. Notifications sent via Codered and FB.
• 1030 – Began demobilization of emergency management operations.
• 1130 – Water distribution halted. Security remained on-site to inform citizens while staff stored away remaining pallets of water.
• 1600 – Emergency management operations and response to this crisis officially ended.

Total & Remaining Inventory

• 98 pallets of water were distributed for a total of 5880 cases of water.
• 31 pallets stored by San Patricio County for future disasters/emergencies.
• 24 pallets stored by the City of Aransas Pass.
• 5 pallets stored at APISD.
• 1 pallet provided to San Patricio County Juvenile Justice Facility.

In closing, the emergency management response to this crisis was quite successful. Just to note, we could not have realized this success without the donations and volunteer support mentioned. We appreciate the partnership realized during this event and hope for a peacefully uneventful rest of the summer.

End of Report

###