The week's historic snowfall and freezing temperatures slammed the already fragile water system in Plaquemines Parish, leaving thousands of homeowners as of Friday with little to no running water and roughly the entire parish remaining under a boil water advisory.
The low-lying parish, parts of which were devastated by Hurricane Ida in 2021, was dealt another series of blows that began with some poor timing early Sunday: A vehicle accident, unrelated to the weather, broke a water line along the parish's main road, Highway 23.
That led to the vast majority of the parish's roughly 22,000 residents being placed under boil water orders, which have yet to be lifted because of weather delays in getting the water tested.
"It snowballed after that," said Keith Hinkley, the parish president.
Tuesday and Wednesday's record snow -- about 9 inches in Belle Chasse -- and freezing temperatures caused widespread leaks, busted pipes and related problems, which has choked water pressure parishwide.
The parish sent a grim alert early Thursday, asking all residents and businesses to shut off water completely.
"We are overloading our water system currently, and it is critical that we work together to restore water pressure during this unprecedented event," the alert read. The parish continued to advise residents to limit their water usage Friday.
Water issues have plagued Plaquemines Parish for decades, with old infrastructure constantly threatened by saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico.
The Port Sulphur Water Treatment Plant flooded during Hurricane Ida in 2021 and has been producing at half capacity since then.
Repairs were supposed to be finished this past October, but they were still ongoing by the time this week's storm hit, said Parish Councilman Mitch Jurisich, Jr.
In the wake of the freeze, it's unclear how many of the parish's residents have been without water entirely
Inframark, the parish's private water provider, said its crews have identified around 300 burst pipes or leaks.
Jurisich, Jr., who owns a house in Homeplace, said as many as 5,000 residents on the westbank between the Homeplace Water Tower and the Boothville Water Plant have had little to no pressure for days.
"It's extremely low pressure," Jurisich said.
He said the trickles from his faucets Friday were about the size of a led pencil, which was an improvement from the last few days, he said. Showering was next to impossible.
The work putting the system back online started in earnest Thursday, when the snow began to melt and homeowners and utility crews could begin canvassing for busted pipes.
On Friday, the parish delivered water samples to a state lab in Amite. Per Louisiana law, the state must clear the samples before boil water orders can be lifted.
Hinkley said he expected the state to take that step Saturday.