West Virginia still continues to be in a water crisis due to a chemical leak that got into the river that made it's way into the water supply of 300,000 people which in turn contaminated the homes of those people. It is so scary reading what all is happening to people who have been exposed to it even after they have done what they were told to do by flushing their homes of the water. It isn't working. After one area is clear to flush their homes it seems like within a few hours they are telling them to boil their water after that. I'm reading that most homes are still smelling the odor of the chemical when they run their hot water. Some are suggesting that the fumes from the hot water from taking a shower can cause you to have a type of pneumonia. More and more people are going to the hospital after they have flushed their homes.
I hated sending my kids to school today. I knew my daughter’s school was safe because her school is on city water but my son’s school has the contaminated water. I sent him wipes and hand sanitizer. He took his own water bottle. I made him take his lunch also even though they said they would be cooking with bottled water. He said they gave everyone at school a water bottle and that water bottles were stacked up in the hallway. They have hand sanitizer outside the bathrooms. Only a note on the water fountain for them to not drink the water. I’d feel safer if they put a trash bag over it. He came home all excited because they let the kids drink as much milk as they wanted and he drank 3 bottles at lunch. They were going to expire on Monday so they decided to let the kids get their fill I suppose.
I’m reading everything I can to learn more about this to try to protect my family but it is hard when they won’t listen. Thankfully we have well water so our house is safe but my mom and sister have the contaminated water. Mom said it burned her hand when she used it. She’s back to using her bottled water. I won't go shopping in the areas that have the water problem because I don't want to need to use the water should nature call while I'm out! lol I have been reading that people are getting headaches, diarrhea, nose bleeds, sore throats, coughing, rashes and burns on their skin. I'm reading that it will take at least another 2 1/2 weeks to get all of this contaminated water out of the peoples homes. They just recommended that pregnant women not drink the water yesterday. After they gave that warning local pediatricians started saying that they don't recommend children to drink the water either. It’s a mess. I won't lie, it is depressing seeing and knowing this is happening right here where I live. I've told my husband he is lucky that our house has a well because I'd want to replace everything in our house. All of the pipes and even the refrigerator because of the icemaker. He gave me a look and said something about not wanting to crawl under the house and rip walls open to get to the pipes. When we built our house he did all of the plumbing work. He apparently don't want to do that again! lol I can't blame him though but I know that is what he would probably do if we had to.
The chemical company that caused this mess has already filed bankruptcy! I knew they would! I'm sure they have hidden as much money as they could!
I’m so worried about people getting cancer from this. You don’t ever want to hear the words you have cancer! Been there and done that! Don’t want to ever hear that again!
Angela
The State of Emergency continues here for 9 counties in West Virginia due to the chemical leak that contaminated our water supply. (I'm not affected by this as we have a well.) I've been reading a lot of different things about this disaster. I read earlier today that there are a few people who lit a match to their water and it actually caught fire! A family from our church has said that they can still smell the odor from the plant that the chemical leaked from. They live about a mile from it.
On a different note, I knew going to church this morning would pose some problems for me since I'm severely allergic to perfume. I knew that since a lot of people are without water that they would be wearing the entire bottle of perfume to cover up the fact that they haven't had a shower since Thursday or even Wednesday if they hadn't already taken one before the do not use order came into effect. I was running late as usual. My husband goes an hour before me because he runs the sound. I don't want to get up at the crack of dawn so I drive myself. As soon as I walked through the door of the sanctuary I could smell the strongest odor of perfume that I have ever smelled EVER!!! I went and sat where I usually sit which I moved to that area because someone was wearing strong perfume where I used to sit and I kept getting sick from going to church and smelling her perfume. After a few songs Pastor told us to greet one another. I shook hands with 2 women and 1 man and sat down thinking I was safe. Nope! I had a sneak attack from the back! A woman whom I love dearly hugged my shoulders and touched her cheek to my cheek from the back. She was wearing some seriously strong perfume today. I kept eating some cinnamon hard candy I had to mask the smells in there. Once church was over and I was in the comfort of my truck I could smell a strong odor of perfume. Where was it coming from? Well, at first I thought it was on my hair so I took a wipe and wiped my hair off on that one side. I still smelled it so I then took a wipe and almost wiped off half of my make up on that one side. Yeah, I looked like a freak show after that! Then I ended up putting my hair up in a pony tail because I couldn't take it another longer which made me look even prettier. I could still smell it so I then realized it was on my jacket! I guess she had it on her hands, probably a lotion of some sort. Thankfully it was warmer than it has been so I took my jacket off and had it in the floor. I could still smell it! I then realized that the heat was on and coming from the floor and thus illuminating the smell upward into my face! I then turned off the heat and it finally went away. Once we got back to church and my husband got in his car to drive home I tossed my jacket in the backseat of my truck. Thank God again that we have well water because I'm going to have to wash that jacket and I wouldn't have been able to do so if we didn't have our well water! The local Laundromats were packed. The news said people were waiting in upward of 2 hours just to use the washing machines! They still don't know when they will be able to flush the main water company's lines yet. They are saying that they are going to let the areas of Charleston to be the first to get their water back because of the hospitals. They are going to do it in zones. Once they give people the all clear then they are supposed to turn on their hot water and let it run for so long to flush out the water from their hot water tanks. If I had an old water tank I would be draining the old one and replacing it. People with ice makers and filters on their water and refrigerators will need to replace those also. The water company is going to put up a map on their web page to show which areas they are working on. Funny how they can make an interactive map with details in a short period of time and the Obamacare web page, well.... I won't go there!
Angela
Eight counties in West Virginia are under a State of Emergency due to a chemical leak that happened early this morning. It affects the customers of West Virginia American Water in the following counties: Putnam, Kanawha, Lincoln, Boone, Jackson, Roane, Clay and Cabell. We are being advised to not use the water for anything except to flush the toilet. Do not drink, bathe, or even wash clothes in this water! Boiling the water will not be good enough to fix the contaminated water. A chemist from Marshall University was interviewed by a local news reporter who said that the chemical would be like drinking gasoline! People are flocking to the stores and shelves have been emptied. One store is reporting that people were grabbing full buggies and bolting. The police have been called to a Kroger due to people fighting over water in the store.
Early this morning it was reported that there was an odor in the Charleston area that smelled like liquorice. It was being reported that people were smelling the odd smell as early as 8:30am. Around 1pm it was reported that the odor was coming from Freedom Industries in Charleston, West Virginia. The Governor declared a State of Emergency around 5pm. Around 7pm restaurants we told to shut down. At 8:00pm schools in the affected counties are now going to be closed tomorrow.
I'll update further as I know more information. As of right now my house is not affected by this because we have well water. Thank God! My sister and her family and my mom are affected by this along with over 100,000 people in the surrounding area.
Angela
