The next phase of the winter weather disaster already unfolding in North Texas is the flooding of frozen pipes that burst.
The problem gets worse as more frozen pipes thaw.
An alarm went off at Christ Church in Fort Worth on Altamesa Boulevard as massive flooding from frozen sprinkler pipes broke through the walls for the first time Monday night.
The people in the church only started repairs on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“It’s a big project and it meets so many people. We also met tons of church families. Your pipes are broken and water is running through them, ”said Associate Pastor Jeremy White.
Broken pipes and sprinklers flooded several parts of the Fort Worth Science and History Museum on Wednesday.
Another riot occurred Monday night in the Plano office of the Homebuilders Association of Greater Dallas.
General manager Phil Crone said it was the perfect storm of record temperatures and long, unexpected power outages that made it impossible to keep the pipes warm.
“If it’s really cold it’s only a matter of time before you get into this situation and we’ll see the worst of it as soon as things thaw,” said Crone. “We already had a labor shortage in this situation.”
After more than a full day of no electricity, the lights at Fred Allen’s Dallas home went down, but no water came from his kitchen faucet.
“My sink and my refrigerator remain the problem. I don’t get any water there either, ”said Allen.
The head of the builders’ association said people with pipes that are likely frozen need to turn off the water ASAP.
“The best thing you can do to make sure the damage is just a frozen pipe and not abundant water is to find a way to shut off the water to your home,” Crone said.
Most homes have a shut-off valve in the water meter box by the curb, but it can be difficult to find with snow in the ground. Many homes have a different supply value that is closer to the home, and newer homes have a different one in the home.
The Homebuilders Association and the City of Plano have posted videos to help locate the water supply valves.
The City of Frisco also released a step-by-step guide with Keith Gall, the battalion chief of the Frisco Fire Department.
City water pipes are also a problem. Fort Worth has reported more than 100 broken water pipes since Sunday. More are also expected when city pipes thaw.
The city of Denton was also working on a major water break on Tuesday evening, in addition to burst pipes and a failure in the city’s water treatment plants. These types of issues have resulted in several cities in northern Texas issuing cooking orders or water conservation warnings.
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