受北极寒流南下影响，美国大部分地区本周遭遇近20年来最严寒天气。据美国媒体1月9日报道，由于供水管道被冻住，俄亥俄州数万居民遭遇“水荒”。为此，政府建议居民不要洗衣洗澡，就连冲厕所的次数也要尽量减少。
当天，埃文湖市政府网站上出现了一则温馨提醒，呼吁市民暂停一切耗水量大的事情。市长布莱恩·延森更给出具体建议，要求市民不要洗衣服、不要洗澡，“我们甚至要求人们在情况好转前尽量减少冲厕所的次数”。
Officials at Avon Lake Municipal Utilities west of Cleveland said Wednesday that the valves at the plant are caked in ice. Although they are still able to draw water, the rate is below typical demands — which means several surrounding cities could be hit by a veritable drought.
In a message on the city of Avon's official website, officials called on residents to hold off on doing anything that uses a lot of water.
Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen sent out an emergency messages to locals asking them to hold off on laundry, baths and showers, according to Cleveland.com.
"We even ask people to refrain from flushing toilets as often as they used to until this can be resolved," Jensen said.
The plant website said it provides water to over 200,000 people living in a 680-square-mile area made up of seven counties — including Lorain, Cuyahoga, Medina, Erie, Huron, Ashland and Wayne.