Atlanta water woes extend into fourth day as city finally cuts off leak gushing into streets

abcnews.go.com:

For at least some residents, Atlanta’s water problems aren't over

ATLANTA — For at least some residents, Atlanta's water problems weren't over Monday.

Milena Franco, who lives in the city's Midtown neighborhood, said she and her husband had water all weekend. But Monday morning, the flow was cut off, as Franco discovered when she tried to take a shower.

“I got in the shower and I just cried for a little bit," Franco said.

City officials said water was shut down in the immediate neighborhood as part of an effort to stanch the flow from a broken main that had been gushing a river into streets since Friday night.

The geyser finally dried up around sunrise Monday, after officials trucked in parts from Alabama under a police escort. But a swath of the city remained under an order to boil water before drinking it, even in areas where pressure had been restored after a first mammoth leak was fixed Saturday. The area under the boil water order shrank drastically Monday afternoon, but the days of outages had some residents frustrated with the pace of repairs.

“We are laser-focused on this problem and my administration understands how critical water is for our lifeline in this city,” Dickens told reporters at the site of the water main break Monday.

But his news conference ended before reporters could ask all their questions because resident Rhett Scircle was asking the questions residents in nearby buildings wanted to know.

“When will the water be back on? Is there any estimated timeline? We live right here!” Scircle yelled at Department of Watershed Management Commissioner Al Wiggins Jr.

Wiggins, who has been commissioner for less than a month, declined to estimate when water would be flowing again, as backhoes dug in a hole