As Atlanta struggled to fix its major water leaks, Fulton County elected officials generally remained silent — but county staff reported major effects on operations.
Most commissioners whose districts include the affected area, including commission Chair Robb Pitts, did not offer any comment Monday. The exception was District 6 Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman.
“I want to start off by saying this is not the time for pointing fingers or looking for someone to blame. This is the time for us to help our neighbors,” she said via email.
Abdur-Rahman said she has received many calls from constituents who need clean water for drinking, cooking and other uses. The continued leaks are costing local businesses too, she said. Abdur-Rahman said she and her staff are collecting water donations and will distribute it to needy residents.
Many county offices closed around midday Friday and employees were sent home when they lost water service, said Jessica Corbitt, county External Affairs director.
They included the Government Center, county courthouse and juvenile court, public defender’s office, the tax assessor’s office at Peachtree Center and the Helene Mills Senior Center, according to a county news release.
Some essential operations such as the medical examiner’s office and 911 center lost water service, so they were furnished with portable toilets and hand-washing stations for employees, Corbitt said.
Inmates and staff at the Fulton County jail are drinking bottled water due to the boil order, according to Natalie Ammons, communications director for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office
“The jail never lost water or had a loss of water pressure,” she said.
Sunday the county announced all its facilities would open as usual Monday, but that water fountains at affected offices would still be unusable until the city boil-water order was lifted. On Monday, Corbitt said the Southeast Senior Center would be closed due to continued water-pressure problems.
At other senior centers in the affected area, the county provided bottled water, she said.
Nine of the county’s 34 libraries closed: Auburn Avenue Research, Central, East Atlanta, Kirkwood, Louise Watley at Southeast, Mechanicsville, Metropolitan, Washington Park and West End.
All were scheduled to reopen at 10 a.m. Monday, but the library system announced the East Atlanta library would close at 1:30 p.m. in connection with the outage. Water fountains and bottle-filling stations remained closed “at any other libraries in affected area that remain open.”
Some Saturday programs at the affected libraries will be rescheduled, Corbitt said.
The Fulton County Board of Health said several of its offices would stay shut Monday. Those included its office at 10 Park Place, its vital records office in the main county building, the Center for Health and Rehabilitation and the Neighborhood Union Health Center. People with appointments at those locations were asked to call 770-520-7500 to reschedule.
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