Atlanta mayor declares state of emergency as water main break forces hospital to move patients

CNN

By Amanda Musa, Rebekah Riess, Ashley R. Williams, Sara Smart and Raja Razek, CNN

(CNN) — Atlanta’s mayor declared a state of emergency following a massive water main break that left parts of the city’s downtown without water and prompted a major hospital to transfer patients elsewhere – as another potential rift threatened to exacerbate the city’s problems on Sunday.

THE significant disruption serving water in Georgia’s capital is the latest dramatic example of how aging infrastructure across the United States has impacted power grids, bridges and roads, dams and other vital systems , embarrassing or endangering millions of Americans.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens declared a state of emergency Saturday just hours after crews repaired one of two major water main breaks in the city’s downtown area. The other, in Midtown, is still under overhaul with no estimate of when it will be repaired.

Repair crews have made “significant progress in locating repairs” as they continue to repair the broken water main at the intersection of West Peachtree Street and 11th Street in Midtown, Atlanta Watershed said early Sunday.

Video from CNN affiliate WANF showed water gushing from a pipe onto a blocked portion of West Peachtree Street as crews worked to fix it.

But another possible water main break in the city, which could cause a “temporary water disruption” in affected areas, was being investigated, the Atlanta Department of Watershed Management said Sunday .

The problems began Friday after breaks on a 48-inch and 36-inch transmission line “that carries large volumes of water to the metro area,” according to Atlanta Watershed.

The water main break left parts of downtown Atlanta without water and with boil water notices, closing tourist attractions and forcing events to be postponed.

With repairs to the downtown water main break completed, crews fully restored water service to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the Fulton County Jail, the Atlanta City Detention Center and other facilities, the city agency said.

The city distributed water to two fire stations on Sunday, limiting cases to one per resident due to ongoing water issues. “We are currently working on getting more water to all stations,” the city of Atlanta said in an article on X.

The disruptions also prompted Emory University Hospital in Midtown to transfer dialysis patients to other hospitals on Saturday, a hospital spokesperson told CNN in a statement.

The hospital’s emergency department has redirected ambulances except for people with urgent heart problems, the release said.

“People who come to the emergency department without an appointment or by car are still accepted and treated as normal,” the statement said.

The hospital said it transported about 58,000 gallons of water in six tanker trucks for use in chillers and cooling towers. The water was provided by the fire department and delivered by a tanker company.

“Bottled water is distributed to patients throughout the hospital for their drinking and personal care needs,” the release said.

Urgent surgical procedures were not affected, but most outpatient appointments, particularly in oncology and radiology, were postponed or moved.

Boil water advisory still in effect

Dickens apologized Saturday for the city’s response to the water main break that began causing concern Friday morning.

“I know this has been a difficult and frustrating day for many of you,” Dickens said. “We all take this issue very seriously.”

These issues have led to the closure of tourist attractions and the rescheduling of events, including Megan Thee Stallion concerts on Friday and Saturday. The incident also left many people without water or with inadequate water pressure.

The Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola, two of downtown’s biggest attractions, remained closed Saturday.

Atlanta United, the city’s soccer team, said it plans to play its match against Charlotte FC on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but food and drink options will be limited due to the advisory to boil the city’s water, which remains in force.

“We ask all fans to use hand sanitizing stations around the stadium as an added precaution for health and safety,” the team said in a statement on X.

Authorities say a rotting pipe that collapsed from water pressure was the main cause of the breakdown of the city center.

“We were able to repair the leaking fitting,” Department of Public Works Commissioner Al Wiggins Jr. said at a news conference Saturday.

“We spent a lot of time getting the pressure out of the system so we could make the necessary repairs,” he said.

Crews are slowly pressurizing the water flow to ensure no additional damage is caused to the water system.

Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta also reported low water pressure Saturday, Grady administrators said in a statement.

“However, we remain fully operational and our emergency department is accepting all patients,” the statement said, adding that elective procedures have been canceled “to ensure patient safety.”

Water issues have already impacted Atlanta. In June 2020, a water main break on the Georgia Institute of Technology campus led to outages and a boil water advisory in the city.

Emory University Hospital in Midtown was using bottled water at the time. Patient care was not affected.

Atlanta’s woes are part of a larger problem of aging infrastructure in the United States. Here and in Canada, about 260,000 water main breaks cost $2.6 billion each year, according to a December 2023 study by Utah State University.

The study noted that the average age of failed water pipes is about 53 years, and 33 percent of water pipes in the United States and Canada are over 50 years old.

CNN’s Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.

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