Restaurants closed their doors, groceries stores sold out of bottled water and thousands of children got an extra day off from school as residents were told to not bathe, brush their teeth, or wash their clothes following a chemical spill that may have contaminated tap water in nine West Virginia counties.
President Obama declared a state of emergency Friday morning after a spill from a Freedom Industries plant in Charleston inundated the Elk River and a nearby water treatment plant Thursday. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin had already declared a state of emergency.
Up to 300,000 people are affected.
Customers of West Virginia American Water in the affected areas got the order from Tomblin on Thursday night: Do not drink, bathe, cook or wash clothes with tap water.
The chemical, a foaming agent used in the coal preparation process, leaked from a tank at Freedom Industries, overran a containment area and went into the river earlier Thursday.
Officials say the orders -- which the water company also delivered to residents via automated telephone messages -- were issued as a precaution, as they are still not sure exactly what hazard the spill posed to residents. It also was not immediately clear how much of the chemical spilled into the river and at what concentration.
"We don't know a lot about the product -- we're still sampling and looking at concentrations," said water company president Jeff McIntyre. "I don't know if the water is not safe . . . Until we get out and flush the actual system and do more testing, we can't say how long this (advisory) will last at this time."
There is no way to treat the water, a spokesperson for the water company, Laura Jordan, told CBS Huntington, W. Va. affiliate WOWK-TV.
McIntyre said the chemical isn't lethal in its strongest form. Kanawha County emergency officials said the chemical is called 4-methylcyclohexane methanol. Freedom Industries officials were unavailable for comment.
According to a fact sheet from Fisher Scientific, the chemical is harmful if swallowed and causes eye and skin irritation, and could be harmful if inhaled.
The Charleston Area Medical Center reported Friday morning that its emergency room had treated approximately five people who reported symptoms of water contamination related to the chemical spill, according to WOWK.
Medical professionals have indicated those people will be fine, but were warned to look out for nausea, skin and eye irritation and vomiting and hospital personnel will keep a close eye on them as well, WOWK says.
The emergency declaration involves customers in all or parts of the counties of Kanawha, Boone, Cabell, Clay, Jackson, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam and Roane. In the capital city of Charleston, a smell similar to licorice or cough syrup was evident in the air both outdoors and in areas where it had already reached the water supply.
The smell was especially strong at the Charleston Marriott hotel a few blocks from the Elk River, which flows into the Kanawha River in downtown Charleston. The Marriott shut off all water to rooms, and then turned it back on so guests could flush toilets. Each guest was given two 16.9-ounce bottles of spring water upon returning to the hotel.
The West Virginia National Guard planned to mobilize at an air base at Charleston's Yeager Airport on Friday to distribute bottled drinking water to emergency services agencies in the nine counties, Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety spokesman Lawrence Messina told The Associated Press.
"They're committing all necessary resources to help with this," Messina said Thursday night.
Messina said the drinking water will come from several different suppliers. FEMA was to be among them, WOWK reported.
After distribution, the various county agencies "will use their own game plans to distribute it, with hospitals and nursing homes getting priority," Messina said.
Most people weren't waiting for outside help.
Once word got out about the governor's declaration Thursday, customers stripped store shelves in many areas of items such as bottled water, paper cups and bowls.
"Everybody's wanting water, and there is no water," said grocery store manager Jeff Joseph," and that brings concern."
As many as 50 customers had lined up to buy water at a convenience store near the state Capitol in Charleston.
"It was chaos, that's what it was," cashier Danny Cardwell said.
Tomblin said the advisory also extends to restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes and other establishments that use tap water.
At the Little India restaurant in Charleston, about 12 customers were asked to leave when bar manager Bill LaCourse learned about the shutdown notice.
West Virginia lawmakers who just started their session this week won't conduct business on Friday because of the problem and State Department of Education spokeswoman Liza Cordeiro said schools in at least five of the counties will be closed.
Karlee Bolen, 16, of Charleston, said her family, including her parents, two sisters and brother, were considering the possibility of heading to her grandmother's home in Braxton County, where tap water was unaffected, an hour to the northeast.
"I kind of want to shower and brush my teeth," she said.
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