At the moment, it doesn’t appear that Hurricane Dorian is going to come as far west as Greensboro, but hurricanes, even with all the current technology, are difficult to predict.
If Dorian or another hurricane or natural disaster heads for Greensboro, here is good news about Greensboro’s infrastructure: Even if a hurricane knocked out electrical service for the entire city, the city water system would still operate.
Not only does the water system have its own generators, it has diesel backup pumps. If the electricity were to go off, Greensboro can switch over to the diesel-powered system and provide water for the city for one to two weeks without any additional deliveries.
It’s hard to imagine a disaster that would cause the electrical system to go out and cut Greensboro off from the rest of the world for two weeks, but if that happens, Greensboro water customers would still be OK. So no matter what the forecast is, there is no need for people on the Greensboro water system to go out and buy cases of bottled water.
Last year Mayor Nancy Vaughan was blasted on her Facebook page for a post where she said there was no need to buy water if you live in Greensboro, but she is right.
It does make sense for those who depend on wells for their water to stock up on bottled water for an emergency, but not for those who have Greensboro city water, whether they live in the city or not.
Do you really think that any of us are going to count on what the government says? Did you read your other article about FEMA funds that still haven’t been paid out after THREE years? No, people should always be prepared to take care of themselves without help from anyone, even the government, for at least a week, if not longer during a crisis. Just look at the pictures coming from the Bahamas right now, I’m pleased that the people of Greensboro are planning ahead as it seems they’ve learned from past disasters.
Most of us in the County are always prepared for power outages because without power we are without water. We don’t want “no stinkin’ city water” and have learned to deal with not having it for periods of time for various reasons. Being prepared to take care of yourselves is always a good plan then if you don’t have to it’s even better.
Not exactly accurate because the answer depends on how much damage your home sustains… Several of us from our church served for weeks helping people recover after the tornado hit in Greensboro; and what I personally saw was many homes rocked off their foundation and had all utilities disconnected. So for those families bottled water was it until living arrangements could be made because they had nowhere else to go.
City water smells like bleach and has for many years. I always have a couple of cases of water.