<p>I woke up at around 6am on Saturday morning and made a pot of coffee and a batch of cinnamon muffins. At 7am, I see an e-mail from my neighbor telling me not to drink any water because it’s contaminated. Her link warns that boiling water will not cure the problem. I start worrying about the cup of coffee I just drank and the muffins I just ate. I throw out the rest of the pot and the muffins. My first thought is I better get to the store to get some water, but we have an extra car in the driveway and I can’t get out. I decide to take a shower and get ready for our busy day, moving our son back to college. </p>
<p>At 7:30, my husband wakes up and I tell him he needs to move his “company car” because I need to take the dog to the kennel and warn him not to drink any water. On the way to kennel, I was planning on stopping at the Kroger store to pick up bottled water. I notice that traffic is really heavy for 7:45 in the morning. When I spot my grocery store, I see that the entire parking lot is full. I manage to find one spot far from the door. While walking in, I notice everyone is coming out with bottles of soda. Then I see a big sign on the front windows, “We have no water.” I immediately call my husband and ask him to start thinking of obscure places that might stock water. </p>
<p>At 8am I arrive at the kennel. I ask if they have water for the pets. They tell me that an employee is out looking for water. I hear a lot of dogs barking and my first impression is, “I can’t leave my dog here”, but I do. I decide to stop at my health club, just down the road, because I know they sell bottle water. I hurry over to their cooler and grab several bottles. The woman at the desk informs me that each customer is only allowed to buy one. I put the rest back, feeling guilty, as I do so. I stop back at the kennel, offering a single quart of water. When I ask how many dogs they have for the weekend, they inform me that there are 28, with more coming. Shortly after, my husband calls to tell me he got one of the last gallons at our little corner market. They were rationing one per customer. I ask him to bring it to the kennel. Leaving the kennel, I glance across the street to the small convenience store. There had been a line of 20 people when I first arrived at the kennel, but now there were at least 40. I decide to try a gas station so drive a few miles to find one.
Unfortunately that gas station was all out, but as I passed the ice machine, I thought that “frozen water is better than no water”. The machine is already half empty at 8:45am, when I buy four bags. I return to the kennel with four bags of ice. When the employee complains that she has no way of washing all the dog bowls, I had her some hand sanitizer from my car. The dogs might not like the taste of their water today, but at least they’ll get some water. </p>
<p>At shortly after 9am, I return home and find that my husband was able to purchse 5 single bottles of water from Kinkos. Who knew Kinko’s carried water? He said that he saw a neighbor going in to the local convenience store and told her that it was sold out and that she should try Kinko’s next door. She ignored him and proceeded to enter the convenience store. </p>
<p>News reports are now saying not to shower or even touch the water because of some poisonous algae. I figure I’m doomed after my shower, coffee, and muffins, but so far I feel fine. They also state that water was sold out at most places by 7am. This is after announcing the problem at 2am. They are also talking about price-gouging. </p>
<p>We finish loading the car, but I notice my college-aged son is no where to be found. At 9:30, I holler upstairs, asking him where he is. I hear him answer from the other side of the bathroom door. “I’m on the toilet and sicker that I’ve ever been.” I ask him if he drank water this morning. He said, “No, but I had water last night before going to bed.” This was at 2am, I might add. He has a very bad case of diarrhea, which would later turn into vomitting. </p>
<p>We decide to leave him at home, in the care of Uncle Mark, who we had also recruited for the move. Because we had the company SUV, to move larger items, my husband and I proceeded with our trip to Kent, OH. Mark was able to keep us updated throughout the day on the water. It turned into delay after delay in figuring out the problem or solution to the problem, with water experts in four cities trying to help Toledo. Before returning Saturday night, we stopped at Walmart and purchased 3 cases of water. We got word that son’s girlfriend’s parents were able to locate two cases of water and dropped them off. They live in a rural area and rely on well water. </p>
<p>It’s now Sunday morning and the ban is still in place. I’m worried about the two buildings where I used to deliver Mobile Meals. There are hundreds of seniors, most are shut-ins. How are they getting water? Even worse yet, I worry that some of them drank the water. If the water can make my healthy son so sick, it would be devasting to some of these people. We’re going to take our cases of water over and go door to door. </p>
<p>Sorry that this post is so long, but I think people need to know how quickly a problem can escalate. I would warn everyone to have an emergency supply because I’ve now seen what can happen. </p>
It sounded like the Red Cross was helping with water and there were MREs for people also. </p>