About 670,000 people in the Portland, Ore., area were told after lunch Friday to boil water used for drinking, cooking and tooth-brushing. Three routine tests this week showed the water system was contaminated by E. coli bacteria, usually associated with animal or human fecal matter.
The finding suggested the water supply could include other harmful bacteria, although health officials said the worst condition someone likely would suffer is diarrhea.
Within the city, nearly every grocery store — from mom-and-pop shops to Wal-Mart — reported that they were out of water by the evening. At Grocery Outlet in North Portland, staffers said it took about half an hour to run out of the large jugs of water. People then started buying sparkling water, juice, beer and ice.
“It’s a weird combination of cabin fever, ‘Road Warrior’ and doomsday scenario preparation,” a store employee said by phone. A manager said she tried to order more water supplies for the weekend, but “they aren’t coming,” she said.
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