‘Snow and prayers’: Richmond begins new year by coping with a water crisis

People flying out of Richmond Tuesday probably knew there might be some water issues at the airport. The bigger surprise, according to Richmond International Airport spokesman Troy Bell, was for people arriving to discover a relatively minor snowstorm had knocked out the water system in Virginia’s capital. And with no running water at the airport, passengers had to use portable toilets set up outside the terminal.

“I’m sure that there’s some discomfort,” Bell said when asked how passengers were coping with the situation.

On day two of Richmond’s water crisis — as water pressure problems spread beyond the city to surrounding counties — residents responded with a mix of frustration, humor and care for their neighbors.

Officials distributed bottled water at 10 sites throughout the city, but it was clear at some locations that demand for drinking water was rapidly outpacing the supply.

As Terri Watson, a 27-year-old entrepreneur from Southside, picked up water at the Hickory Hill Community Center, he said his household of four was getting by on “snow and prayers.”

“My grandma’s old school,” he said. “Snow. Heat it up. Flush it down.”

The city specified there were two windows when residents could pick up water, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. Around midday at Hickory Hill, one man became visibly frustrated and yelled in his truck after being told there was no more water to give out and he’d have to come back a few hours later.

Others were more accepting of the situation.

Jer’Mykeal McCoy, a 34-year-old Southside resident, said he had come to get water for himself and his elderly neighbors who weren’t as tuned in to what was happening because they don’t go online as much as younger generations.

“A lot of people are scared,” he said. “It’s cold outside. This is very new.”

At another water distribution site at Southside Plaza, Jim Walters said he had been trying unsuccessfully to get someone from the city to help provide water to The Arbors at Hull Street, a senior apartment complex where he works as the service manager.

"I've got 186 senior citizens without water and I can't find anybody to help,” he said.

On social media sites, many Richmonders turned to black comedy. Memes flourished on Reddit, where users referenced post-apocalyptic movies, posted an image of someone using Pabst Blue Ribbon beer to brush their teeth and shared a screenshot about old-timey waterborne disease from the vintage computer game Oregon Trail.

The water disruption forced local restaurants to close, angering some owners who had just battled City Hall over last year’s meals tax controversy and now found themselves in a new predicament.

Patrick Stamper, the owner of En Su Boca and Beauvine Burger Concept, said water disappeared at En Su Boca on Monday hours before the city even acknowledged there was a problem.

“They basically said that they watched the reservoir run dry without telling anyone what was going on,” Stamper said. “It’s unbelievable.”

Stamper said he’s continued paying employees to show up for work while hoping the restaurants will be able to quickly resume normal operations. So far, that hasn’t panned out, and Stamper said he doubts a small snowstorm could be the only reason for such a “catastrophic” failure.

“This cannot be what they’re saying it is,” he said.

It became clear Tuesday that there would be no quick fix for the damage that occurred Monday morning at Richmond’s water plant when a power outage caused a broader system failure and flooding that damaged electrical equipment, according to officials. Though city officials said they are working to restore water pressure, the city remains under a boil water advisory due to the potential for bacteria to enter the system after the loss of pressure. 

Though Richmond’s neighboring counties said Monday that they were able to avoid disruption by disconnecting from the city water supply and using alternative sources, water pressure began to fail Tuesday in parts of eastern Henrico County. 

In a news conference, Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas appeared to fault city officials for being slow to communicate the extent of the problem on Monday.

“Where there could have been better communication is the notification that we received from the city of Richmond,” Vithoulkas said. “It took a number of hours for us to get that information and we were not able to fill our system as much as we would have liked to have done. That's part of the story and why we are here today.”

Hanover County also issued a boil water advisory for some parts of the county east of Interstate 95 after losing pressure due to its “dwindling alternative water supply.”

The municipal crisis also cast uncertainty over state government, with lawmakers from all over Virginia scheduled to convene in Richmond Wednesday for the beginning of the 2025 General Assembly session. The Capitol and other state buildings were closed Tuesday due to a lack of water, and officials were left hoping the water would return fast enough for the session to begin on time.

In an email Tuesday morning to House of Delegates members and staffers, House Clerk Paul Nardo said anyone in legislative buildings should leave due to safety concerns. If anyone was on their way, he said, they should “go somewhere else for now.”

“The water pressure has gone kaput in the Capitol,” he wrote.

The crisis was also affecting the Executive Mansion in downtown Richmond, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office said he was monitoring the situation and had been in touch with new Richmond Mayor Danny Avula.

“Our teams also worked overnight to supply area hospitals with tanker trucks of water and delivered nearly 70 pallets of water to the city with an additional 350 pallets en route,” said Youngkin spokesman Christian Martinez.

Roughly 20,000 gallons of bottled water were supplied by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, according to spokesman Jason Elmore. The agency also provided seven portable tankers, each containing 8,000 gallons of water, to area hospitals.

Extra assistance to distribute the water came from the American Red Cross, which deployed 24 volunteers to the distribution sites. Jonathan McNamara, a spokesperson for the organization, said the Red Cross could also tap into more volunteers if needed.

Avula, a former public health official in his first week as the city’s mayor, spent the night at the city’s water plant and said city employees are working “tirelessly” to resolve the situation.

“I can personally vouch for that,” Avula said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “As you’ll notice I’m wearing the same sweater I was when we met yesterday.”

As parents prepared for their children to return to school after the holiday break, the combo of the winter weather and the water problem meant many students would be staying home longer than anticipated.

Richmond Public Schools will be closed again Wednesday, extending a winter break that began Dec. 20.

Besides the challenges of providing safe drinking water and working toilets for students and teachers, Superintendent Jason Kamras said in a message to parents that 10 of the division’s buildings are heated by boilers, “which means that they are currently not being heated.”

“Given the cold, we want to perform additional checks to make sure all of our buildings are safe for our students and families,” he wrote. “So, we may need extra time to bring these buildings’ temperatures back up, as well as to perform those necessary checks.”

Avula, who has been in crisis situations before as the state’s vaccine coordinator during the COVID-19 pandemic, thanked Richmonders for showing “patience” as the city tries to get things fixed.

“I know this is a really challenging time to figure out how to operate without water,” the mayor said. “But I ask for your continued patience.”

Sarah Vogelsong and Michael Phillips contributed to this story.