Letter Re: Observations on the Flooding in Central England

Jim:
Wow, good thing our cousins across the pond had firearms to defend themselves from the looters…
I was in Jersey City [, New Jersey, USA] about two weeks ago when a 46 inch[-diameter] water main broke and there was no water pressure for 48 hours. My friend that I was staying with had no water at all except half a case of 1/2 liter drinking water bottles. We were able to get to the supermarket where they were rationing the stock to four gallons per person. So we bought the maximum and [did the same] again the next morning. his girlfriend and my wife were disgusted at the thought of “if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down”, as we had to refill the toilet tanks in his 38th-floor apartment a couple of times. It was relatively local, affecting several thousand people. But even that small of an area affected the mindset as it was very hot and humid and nobody could shower and it was stressful. I don’t think anybody in Jersey City or Hoboken [, New Jersey] owns a Berkey filter or even a Katadyn hiking filter. My friend told me that after they got water on it was murky for a few days until it filtered through the system. Thanks, Tim L.