Thomasville Left High And Dry

Help is finally arriving in a south Alabama town that has been without water for six days.

Bottled water for drinking and tanker trucks full of unpurfied water for bathing and flushing toilets started arriving in Thomasville Monday, after Governor Bob Riley and the state Emergency Management Agency got involved in the situation.

Thomasville Mayor Sheldon Day says the city's water problems started last week when freezing temperatures caused pipes to burst putting an unmanageable strain on the Pine Hill water system.

Thomasville normally uses 1.2 million to 1.3 million gallon per day, according to the mayor, but this week they've only been getting about 125,000 gallons a day.

Last week half of the town was without water, but the number has now climbed to more than 85%. The water shortage forced schools to close indefinitely and prompted the city and county to declare a state of emergency.

"You can't hardly deal with anything without water," said Joe Stockman, who we talked to as National Guardsmen filled milk jugs with water for him.

State and local leaders talked on a conference call this afternoon to come up with a way to restore Thomasville's water supply. Day says it will take at least 48 hours to get water flowing to every household.