Arkansas Town Faces Second Major Water Outage in a Year

Helena-West Helena residents without water for two weeks as aging infrastructure fails amid freezing temperatures.

Residents of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas have been without running water for two weeks due to freezing temperatures causing the town's aging infrastructure to fail.
This is the second water outage in the past year for the town, which faced a similar crisis last summer.
The state National Guard has brought in a water truck and a 16-stall portable shower for residents to use, with distribution sites seeing a steady line of people filling up on water for their homes.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has urged a state commission to expedite a $100,000 emergency loan for the city to refurbish two wells and replace valves in the city’s water system.
The long-term fix to the town's water system is estimated to cost about $5 million, raising questions about who will pay for it.