Emergency crews were put to the ultimate test of public servitude. Looking back, staff said the storm made them stronger than ever, better armed for a catastrophe with a greater sense of community. But during the winter disaster, the work was demanding, fatiguing and complicated.
Scott Morrow, who began working at Austin Water when he was 19, is a division manager of pipeline operations and has been at the utility for 28 years. His teams repair pipeline breaks and water main breaks, which are the larger pipes under the streets that deliver water across town to customers.
During a regular week, Scott said his teams respond to an average of 20 breaks. In February 2021, they repaired over 300 breaks in a two-week time span. Of those, 150 were water main breaks during Winter Storm Uri.
“Not only were they out in the [snow] working in holes with water in them getting wet,” Morrow said. “They would go home to a home with no heat, maybe a home with no electricity, and probably be cold to the bone for the night. And then get up, you know, splash some water on their face and do it again. Get back at it.”
Some were not going home at all. The city’s water treatment plants were stocked with food, bedding and air mattresses for staff who worked around the clock trying to get running water to Austinites.
Julie Hollandsworth, division manager of operations and maintenance for the water treatment plants, was stuck at home during the storm to oversee approximately 90 staff members who work at those plants, including technicians, management teams and truck drivers who remove the lime residuals.
“These guys had been giving it their all, from [preparations] leading up to the storm to having a boil-water notice,” Hollandsworth said. “To have things go so not our way was really heartbreaking because they couldn’t have done more. I get kind of choked up thinking about how much they had to put into it.”
Winter Storm Uri forced each department at Austin Water to overcome unforeseen obstacles. Morrow; Hollandsworth; and Mark Martinez, the division manager for water meter operations at Austin Water, said their teams had to undergo a variety of challenges for the first time.
Typically, the crews that Martinez supervises install, test and repair water meters. Winter Storm Uri forced them into “full-blown emergency mode,” meaning all 40 employees were working virtually around the clock in response to the outpour of emergency calls.
“I’ve been with the city [for] 27 years, and I’ve never experienced an event of this nature,” Martinez said, citing treacherous roads and hills his teams encountered while doing repairs across the city. “Traveling to work was so dangerous. You had to take that risk as we provide a public service to our customers.”
A year later, Austin Water staff remembers Uri with a sense of pride and deep appreciation for one another. Despite the hardships and horrors that the blizzard brought, the division managers said its lessons are impactful.
While Austin Water has made repairs to facilities impacted by Uri, it has also invested in materials to support front-line crews in future emergency events. The utility has greater stores of meals and supplies for workers on site and has purchased spiked boots and tire chains to keep workers safe on icy treatment plant catwalks and roads. Crews will be safer and more effective as a result.
“We got to see each other at our best and our worst, and we worked through that,” Morrow said. “I think humans in general sometimes, when they feel like all of the odds are against them, we just need a little hope. Being pushed into this, we were working together and understanding that we all have a common goal.”
Martinez said he is proud of Austin Water’s employees and their commitment to customers
“They exemplified what it means to be a public servant—going above and beyond against adversity to get the job done every single day,” he said.
To learn more about what Austin Water is doing to prepare for extreme weather and emergency events, visit https://austinwater.org.
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