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Check National Current Conditions | Drought.gov for more information.
Get supplies ready in case you need to stay home for many days without power. Get extra water, non-perishable food, pet food, and fast-burn logs for cooking outside. If you don’t have one, get an electric heater.
Have extra batteries for radios and flashlights.
Think about each person’s special needs, like medicine.
Make sure pets are properly hydrated at home and when outdoors with fresh, clean drinking water.
Identify and fix leaky pipes and faucets that would waste water unnecessarily with your local plumber.
In addition to buying bottled water, consider purchasing at-home filters to purify water for drinking. Consider saving water during rainy seasons for later use in a rain-harvesting tank.
Alert vulnerable neighbors and share watering restriction guidelines.
Think about people who are unhoused, older adults, and people living alone or with physical disabilities and check in on their drinking water needs or come up with a plan to conserve water.
Take shorter showers and turn on water to get wet enough to lather soap, and then rinse.
Make sure they are aware of Austin watering restriction guidelines and have ways to conserve water with proper assistance. Consider investing in a neighborhood garden water collection tank to collect water during the rainy seasons.
Advocate early if you are running low on water.
In some cases, the city or county will set up resource and recovery centers, or activate resilience hubs to help people connect to supplies and resources.
Get insurance estimates early. If you don’t have insurance, check the city website for repair programs.
Check the city website if you need shelter.
Have a go-to network of neighbors and friends you can stay with.
Know where your nearest warming centers, shelters and resilience hubs are located.
Sign up for alerts through drought.gov
Know where your nearest resilience hubs and emergency resources are located. Have an emergency plan in the case of wildfires or poor water quality.
A boil water notice is a public statement advising people to boil their tap water before using it, typically in response to an event that has (or could have) introduced contaminants into the water distribution system. Such events include a large water main break, widespread loss of system pressure, or results of routine sample testing in the system. Although waterborne diseases are extremely rare, they can be serious. The risk is higher for infants, the elderly and persons with immune deficiency disorders. Austin Water issues boil-water notices even if the possibility of contamination is remote to safeguard the health of the community.
Click here to receive more information.
Conserve water throughout the year with rain water collection tanks and in passing throughout the day.
View Austin Water’s Water Saving Tips for additional information.
View the Austin Water homepage for more detailed information about additional programs and rebate options.
View Austin’s local water outage dashboard below on this same page or through this link here to report an outage.
Have bottled water ready and stored in a cool, dry place.
Consider purchasing an at-home water filtration system and check with your local water agency to see if there are any rebates available.
Consider testing your water with testing kits to ensure that it is drinking water safe and free from contaminants; or having these kits on hand in the event of a water emergency.
Austin’s current water restrictions are available through Austin Water.
Make sure you have a kit ready with things kids need like purified drinking water, electrolytes in cases of extreme heat, etc.
Talk to your kids about not wasting water when brushing their teeth, washing their face and when bathing or playing outdoors. Make it fun for them to collect rainwater or conserve water. Educate them about Texas Drought conditions and our climate zone.
Sign up for local emergency help for older people. This help can include special support if you need to leave your home quickly. Keep fresh drinking water with your medicines and supplies where you can get them easily. Connect to a friend. Consider asking for help from a neighbor to ensure that your home does not have leaky pipes or faucets and apply to have repaired through the Austin Water Portal.
Keep your pregnancy care items, bottled water and medicines in your emergency kit. Make sure to take breaks, stay cool in intense heat. Be sure to have extra fresh, clean drinking water on hand and be aware at all times of Austin’s Boil Water Notices.
Get a pet emergency kit with food, clean water, and medicine.
Sign up for emergency alerts that show messages on your phone or computer. Keep extra batteries for any devices you use. Let emergency workers know that you need visual alerts.
Have your cane or guide dog’s harness ready in case you need to leave quickly. Mark your supplies so you can tell what they are by touching or feeling them. Make sure you can get alerts through sound or vibration.
Make an emergency kit for the person you take care of. Include their special foods, fresh, clean drinking water and medical supplies. Plan what to do if you can’t get to them.
View Austin Water’s webpage using the “Translate” option on the upper right-hand corner of their webpage. You can use translation apps on your phone that work even when you’re not online.
Keep all your health stuff like prescriptions and insurance information in one place. Have enough medicine and special food ready.
Know where shelters, cooling centers and Austin’s Resilience Hubs are, and what you need to get in. Keep your important papers like ID in a waterproof bag. Keep a bag with food, water, and a first aid kit. Stay clean to avoid getting sick. Stay up to date on where to go when it floods.
Keep informed with your property management company on outages and boil water notices via text or email alerts. Keep an emergency kit and important papers safe from water.
Drought is generally defined as “a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time (usually a season or more), resulting in a water shortage.”
Here is some more information to help you think about Drought Conditions and Impacts.
