How Tuscaloosa, Alabama Residents and Volunteers Are Responding to the Water Crisis

As communities in Tuscaloosa County are looking to rebuild in the wake of Tropical Storm Claudette and the water crisis that followed, many volunteers and companies are stepping in to help.

Buffalo Rock, a beverage company based in Birmingham, Alabama, responded to a call of help and donated 48,000 water bottles within two hours.

"We are thankful the city had the trust in us to be able to react quick enough in this emergency," Chris Gunter, General Sales Manager of Buffalo Rock, said, "I am grateful and proud of our team being able to assist in this effort, pulling them to work during Father's Day." 

Tuscaloosa City Councilman Matthew Wilson, Temporary Emergency Services, Cynthia Burton of Community Services of West Alabama, County Commissioner Reginald Murray, Pastor Vernon Swift of Elizabeth Baptist Church and Pastor David E. Gay of Beulah Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa donated water, totaling over 6,000 bottles.

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Organizations in the community are providing relief services, as well. Forest Lake Baptist Church's Wings of Grace and Temporary Emergency Services are working to provide clothing to those affected by the storm.

Holt High School's principal Luther Riley even helped traffic after offering his campus to become a water distribution center. 

Mayor Walt Maddox released an update on his Facebook Monday detailing what work still needs to be done to get back to normal.

After a briefing, Maddox had 15 statements regarding a water line leak that is affecting many residents in the city. After working overnight to mitigate some of these issues, tanks continue to be full south of the Black Warrior River, and pressure seems normal.

Dominion Construction is the contractor assigned to this project, and their goal for the day is to establish an access road and create a bypass line.

It will take roughly two weeks to fix the 24-inch raw water line damage, costing anywhere from $1 million to $2 million to repair all damages.

The mayor added that John Plott Company is working on the Bryant Bridge slope failure that threatens all three raw water lines, and IPS will repair the 8-inch break off Kicker Road that drained the Crescent Ridge Road tank this week. 

Jarrod Milligan, Deputy Executive Director of the City of Tuscaloosa, will have a presentation for the council at its June 22 meeting.

"[The] Team is working with impacted water/sewer customers who might face service issues during repairs...Conservation order is still needed with repairs in the initial stages and additional rainfall will increase chances for additional slope failures," Maddox wrote. 

For questions, call Tuscaloosa’s One Place at 205-462-1000.