On Monday morning, water continued to gush out of a broken water main on West Peachtree Street in Midtown.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Mirtha Donastorg covered the water outages over the weekend while being affected by them.
“For me personally, the water went out at my condo Friday; I went to bed thinking everything would be OK,” Donastorg told “Politically Georgia.”
“I woke up Saturday morning and said oh, this isn’t fixed yet,” she said.
Her problems were not unique. The Atlanta school system canceled summer school and summer programs Monday due to the ongoing mess.
“It looks like a geyser,” said Donastorg. She also said additional water main breaks sprouted up as the city rushed to fix the main break.
“It’s like a game of whack of mole,” said the reporter, who covers the economy for the AJC.
Donastorg also discussed Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ lack of communication.
“We didn’t hear from him (Dickens) Friday, Friday night, we didn’t hear from him Saturday morning. Finally Saturday afternoon he held a news conference, I asked him where have you been? He said ‘Memphis’,” said Donastorg.
“Mayor Dickens needed to get back to Atlanta as soon as possible and address this issue,” said Emory professor Emeritus Alan Abramowitz.
“Personally, I knew someone that had to get surgery to avoid losing their eye, and it was delayed nine hours,” said Oglethorpe’s Kendra King Momon.
Abramowicz and Momon were also guests on the show on Monday, along with political consultant Rick Dent.
Emory University Hospital Midtown, Grady Memorial Hospital, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport were returning to normal operations on Monday.
Dickens is up for reelection next year, and the handling of this water crisis could linger on Atlanta voters’ minds.
“The water break gives your opponent a bullet,” said Dent. “The risk for him is not learning from this experience.”
Tuesday on “Politically Georgia”: AJC reporter Riley Bunch joins us to discuss this ongoing water crisis in Atlanta.
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