Galveston is expected to remain under a water conservation mandate through the weekend after freezing weather caused pipes to burst and leak.
The Galveston County Daily News reports that a rare 18-hour period of below-freezing weather from Tuesday night into Wednesday caused pipes to freeze at homes, businesses and in city main water lines.
City Manager Brian Maxwell said the amount of water lost prompted an "emergency."
The city's water reserve supply dipped below 60 percent of capacity Thursday, triggering the need to enact the conservation plan in which residents are urged to restrict their non-essential potable water use.
City spokeswoman Jaree Fortin says reserve tank levels though have been improving.
Fortin said that by Thursday night, the city got at least 3,000 calls from people reporting broken pipes.
