State of emergency declared in Atlanta following water main break: mayor

A state of emergency was declared in Atlanta on Saturday evening following two water main breaks, Mayor Andre Dickens announced at a press conference.

The massive disruption was reported Friday evening, prompting a boil water advisory from the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management.

We are “working around the clock to provide clean drinking water to the city of Atlanta,” Mayor Dickens said.

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

Of the two water main breaks, one had been repaired at press time, and water was currently being restored to those affected by this particular outage. Authorities are awaiting the arrival of a part to repair the second main break, and the timeline for repairing the break remains uncertain, officials said.

Grady Hospital and Emory University Hospital are accepting patients and are fully operational, with enough water to “keep people safe and healthy,” the mayor said.

Earlier Saturday, before one of the water main breaks was repaired, Emory University Hospital in Midtown redirected ambulance traffic to other locations, but emergency surgeries were able to continue, a spokesperson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The two major breaks occurred at Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and James P. Brawley Drive, and one at 11th Street NE and West Peachtree Street NE.

The outage at Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and James P. Brawley Parkway has been repaired, the mayor said. The Department of Watershed Management is increasing pressure in the system so that those affected by this outage can have their water restored now or soon, Dickens added.

The city hopes to receive 100 pallets of water delivered later this evening to distribute to those in need.