RISON - If battling the worst ice storm the region has experienced in nearly two decades was not enough, residents of Kingsland and Rison also found themselves contending with water issues during the aftermath of the storm.
Kingsland Mayor Sharon Crosby and Rison Mayor Charles Roberts both reported that their city water systems went down after the ice storm leaving their residents with low pressure or no water at all.
Crosby said Kingsland's issues began last Thursday when an uprooted tree broke an underground natural gas pipeline resulting in a gas leak. She said the break occurred along Log Cabin Road just off Hwy. 79 on the south side of town. After County Judge Jimmy Cummings issued an emergency proclamation, the Kingsland Fire Department began evacuating residents in the area while also shutting down traffic along that section of Hwy. 79.
While the gas leak was being tended to, Crosby said Kingsland Water Operator Lloyd Purify found the back-up generator that powers the city water pumps was not working and he had to find parts to fix it. Once it was repaired, she said generator could not be started until the gas leak was repaired since it is powered by natural gas.
To compound the problem, the city found itself facing another issue when another uprooted tree along Hwy. 189 north of town snapped a 3-inch water line. Crosby said the resulting leak drained the city's 500,000 gallon water tank, forcing the city to issue a boil order as the water tank was being refilled using the back-up generator.
Roberts said Rison's issues began when a six-inch water main "split" near the intersection of First and Center Streets on Sat-urday morning.
He said they frist believed the leak was due to a solitary break in the water main. However, after that leak was patched, another sprang up nearby, prompting the city to replace a section of the water main in that area.
To make matters worse, Roberts said trees ...
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