Chapel Hill is experiencing a water crisis due to a broken water main.
A water main broke near Dobbins Drive in Chapel Hill Friday morning, and the Jones Ferry Water Treatment Plan was also shut down. As a result, the water supply in Chapel Hill reached critically low levels. Those on campus were instructed by Alert Carolina to not use the water until further notice.
The university decided to close their offices and cancel classes as of 1:00 pm today, in addition to canceling the pre-game press conference with Roy Williams ahead of tomorrow evening’s Notre Dame game.
There is no way to know how long this situation will take to correct, but there is a decent chance that the game could be problematic if the water situation hasn’t been sorted out by then. Of course, UNC isn’t going to postpone a game lightly. They will likely do everything in their power to ensure that the game can go on as scheduled.
However, the water problem is such that the concern for fire safety is also a huge consideration. Packing 21,000+ people into a small space without adequate water in case of an emergency is not the best plan. If the water crisis cannot be handled in the next 24 hours, there probably isn’t a lot of choice in the matter.
That’s a decision those with much more information will have to make in the coming hours. We’ll keep you posted when there is more news.
