Broken Pipes Leave Many Without Water; Cold Eases

Temperatures rose and snow melted Tuesday in the South, but thousands of people had no water or little pressure because of pipes cracked by the record cold wave.

Temperatures stayed below freezing overnight throughout much of the South but were expected to reach the 60s in the Carolinas by the end of the week, the National Weather Service said.

Airlines resumed normal schedules at Charleston, S.C., after reducing flights because of snow, which piled 15 inches deep in places along the coast Sunday. The Myrtle Beach Jetport, closed for a third straight day Monday, was able to operate only during daylight because runway lights were covered by snow, Todd Crawford, deputy airport director, said.

The cold has been blamed for at least 96 deaths from the plains to the East Coast since Dec. 15.

The worst of the water problems was at Jackson, Miss., where an estimated 60,000 homes and businesses were without water or had greatly reduced pressure. In addition to problems caused by cracked pipes, the Pearl River had frozen around intakes for the municipal water system.

Jackson’s city government closed Tuesday because of the water problem, and several businesses that normally use a lot of water agreed to close Tuesday or reduce operations. Mayor Kane Ditto said that water service could be restored to all areas by late today.

Texas cities also had broken water pipes, with more than 6,000 leaks reported in Houston. Some homes had been without water since Friday.

Plumbers were besieged by calls.

“The wait could be a week, if not longer,” said Billy Duncan, owner of Duncan’s A-1 Redi Rooter Plumbing in San Antonio. “It depends on how fast we can get to them and how fast we can get parts in.”

Hotels in Houston offered discount rates for people who only wanted to take showers.

Taps ran dry in Charleston also. “There’s got to be thousands of broken lines out there,” said Steve Kinard, manager of Charleston’s public works department, which supplies water to 400,000 people.

CROP PRICE HIKE FEARED: Damage from the cold may mean higher produce costs. D1