Atlanta Mayor Faces Backlash Over City’s Water Crisis

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens faced backlash on social media Saturday after being slow to respond after water pipes burst in the city on Friday.

According to the Associated Press, the problems began Friday morning when water gushed into a street from corroding pipes where three large water mains intersect in downtown Atlanta. This caused water problems at two hospitals and two jails, along with local shelters. A separate break occurred later in the city’s Midtown.

The issues forced many downtown businesses and attractions to close and affected water service in metro-area homes.

The city and its water management department sent its first update after 8 p.m. Friday. Citizens didn’t get another update until 12 hours later, according to the Associated Press, and Dickens didn’t address the media until 2 p.m. Saturday. He said he was in Memphis when the problem began.

On Saturday afternoon, Dickens promised updates every two hours until the situation is resolved and also apologized.

“Overnight, we did not do the best job of communicating. We could have done a better job over the past day, and for that, I apologize,” he said.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, at 6:23 p.m. EST Saturday, Dickens said, “Atlanta, we are working tirelessly and with great caution to restore your water as soon as possible. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience this has caused and appreciate your patience. Our team is committed to resolving this issue swiftly and efficiently.”

In Dickens’ replies, a host of accounts continued to take the mayor to task for his tardy response.

“The messaging is still useless. A leader sets a deadline according to their experts and makes everything needed possible to meet that deadline. You haven’t said anything that tells us this is an insurmountable problem therefore apologies and and we don’t know is a failure,” the @CineGastro account replied to Dickens.

“I like you, I voted you for, I donated to your campaign. You have great ideas and a vision for this city. But you’ve shown you can’t handle a crisis, and that’s at least 50% of bring a mayor of any city. Next election, I’m looking for someone seasoned,” @suneelg replied to Atlanta’s mayor.

“Here’s some free comms advice as you prepare to run for reelection: this post should have been yesterday. If this was your election year vs next year, you would be cooked,” @bryantajoseph replied to Dickens on a post earlier on Saturday.

Newsweek reached out to Dickens’ office Saturday night for comment.

City officials reported Saturday that multiple rounds of repairs had been completed on a main break at the junction of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and J.P. Brawley Drive.

A boil-water order was still in effect Saturday night for a large portion of metro Atlanta. Residents were asked to restrict water usage to allow water pressure to rebuild.

“Certainly, we understand the urgency of getting water service restored, but we also want to make sure we do it in a manner that does not cause any further regression of our work,” Atlanta Department of Watershed Management Commissioner Al Wiggins Jr. said Saturday. d “Any water utility, it’s a fragile setup.”

He said he hoped service would be fully restored Saturday, but he could not guarantee it.

Atlanta attractions and businesses, including the Georgia Aquarium, were closed Saturday.

“The city-wide water issue is still affecting the Aquarium and many others in the area. This is not affecting our animals, but it is affecting our guest areas like restrooms,” the aquarium posted on the social platform X.

For the second night in a row, rapper Megan Thee Stallion saw her concert at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena cancelled due the water issues.

“After speaking with the Mayor’s office regarding the continued water leak issues affecting downtown Atlanta, the City of Atlanta is unable to accommodate the Megan Thee Stallion performance scheduled for tonight,” the arena posted on Facebook.

Megan’s Friday concert was moved to Sunday, and as of Saturday night, is still scheduled to take place.

In an Instagram Live post, the rapper expressed sadness and frustration and even proposed moving the concert to an outdoor venue in the Atlanta area.