Residents Told to Boil Drinking Water

About 60 La Conchita residents were told Tuesday night at a community meeting that they will probably be without drinkable water until at least Friday morning.

In the meantime, the water they do have must be boiled until further notice to destroy possible contaminants, said John Johnson of the Casitas Water District. Nine houses in the seaside community were destroyed in a landslide on March 4. Four others have been damaged.

Backed by a chorus of frogs under a clear sky, Johnson told the weary residents that a 16-inch water main had broken sometime Sunday and that crews were working to replace the damaged pipeline.

“But the water has to be considered hazardous until we come back and directly tell you otherwise,” Johnson said.

Authorities from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were on hand to respond to residents’ frustrations and field their questions about how to apply for federal assistance.

“It’s a horrible, angry situation now with FEMA,” one resident told authorities. “So many of us are getting the runaround.”