Okmulgee County Residents Go Fourth Day Without Water

About 100 people in Okmulgee County are on their fourth day without running water.

Crews are working around the clock to restore service and hope it will happen late Thursday night.

The trough was filled to the brim four days ago and now only a little remains to take care of almost a dozen cows.

That’s the reality that many people in Okmulgee County are facing.

"It's definitely been a challenge, um, trying to figure out how you are going to tote 500 gallons of water to your livestock via containers, be able to carry it,” said Okmulgee County resident Melinda Lefleur. “It's just something that couldn't happen."

For four days straight, Lefleur has been trying to run a farm and a family without water.

"I have a husband who is sick,” Lefleur. “Trying to keep up with that no water, no laundry, not being able to clean anything, not having water to flush toilets, yeah, it's been a little challenging."

Okmulgee County Emergency Management Director Tim Craighton said the water issues started Monday morning when lightning caused some of the company's computers to go out.

Over the next few days, leaks in water lines caused water towers to stop refilling, leaving hundreds without water.

"The water department has worked overtime many, many hours in getting water back up because they understand the inconvenience,” said Craighton. “Most of the employees of that water district live in that district."

In the meantime, families have been driving up the road to the Twin Hills School, where emergency services parked two water tanks.

Craigton said they are hoping to get all the water meters working by Thursday night, and if that happens it’s going to take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to get the water pressure back to normal.