HOUSTON — On Wednesday afternoon, temperatures in Houston were no longer below freezing but before the warm-up, a lot of Houstonians prepared their homes, specifically their pipes.
KHOU 11 News spoke with plumbing experts ahead of the arctic blast and those experts said they expected they would be busy after the latest bout with freezing temperatures and their prediction proved to be true.
Village Plumbing and Air told KHOU that between Tuesday and Wednesday, they received about 450 calls. Plumbers weren't the only ones getting calls.
Houston's 311 Service Helpline is a number Houstonians can call when they're dealing with different issues, including water.
If they receive calls that are water-related, like a leak problem, Public Works responds. Throughout Wednesday, a majority of the 311 cases were Public Works related, and a lot of them were specifically about water.
If you have a concern and need to call 311, here's how to navigate that process and what you need to know.
You can track the city's response here.
While the arctic blast has come and gone, if your pipes are still wrapped and OK, experts recommend keeping them wrapped.
If you think your pipes survived the freeze, experts said it doesn't hurt to get them checked.
"There may be an unseen damage that could pop up. It could be weakened pipes, it could be, you know, if you had something that kind of halfway hanging on, it's probably going to be a problem," plumber Eddie Caballero said.
Between Friday and Wednesday, Public Works said it had 182 work orders for water leaks and completed 107 repairs. They said the issues that haven't been fixed have scheduled repair dates.