Following winter storm, Texans search for food, water, other supplies

Many households are still without clean water or power following the winter weather in Texas.

AUSTIN, Texas - Warm weather melted snow and ice in Central Texas Friday, allowing many to get on the road for the first time since winter weather unraveled the state.

Most Austinites have been homebound this week, without water and/or power.

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"It’s very hard. It’s very hard to find food nowadays because everything is closed and we have to do a long line to get anything," explained Juan Avila.

Austin breweries help supply water while city waits for shipments

After Austin Water customers found their faucets running dry, Meanwhile Brewing decided sharing their supply was the right thing to do. 

Like many who ventured out, Juan and Daniel Avila found little but long lines, and bare shelves — until a friend directed them to the Buenos Aires Café in East Austin. "I feel very blessed because of this. We haven’t eaten anything in the entire day, and this pretty much is like, help us a lot," said Juan Avila.

In partnership with Pernod Ricard USA, the restaurant distributed more than 200 free meals Friday. Chef Joshua Ortega slept at the restaurant Thursday night so he could prep the food by himself. "If you are lucky enough to not lose electricity, power or water or anything like that, make sure that you give back," he said.

Down the road, plant-based meal delivery service "Prep To Your Door" distributed clean water. Friday, Austin remained under boil water notice, and many households were still without power and/or water.

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Tens of thousands in Austin without water

Many in Austin are without water after the city's largest water treatment plant lost power. While the plant is back online, there's not exact timetable for when water will be back for all customers. FOX 7 Austin's Tierra Neubaum has details.

Founder Heather Emerson said the company decided to use their equipment to purify water after facing a crisis of their own. This week a power outage spoiled their stock, and they were forced to cancel all Austin deliveries. "Any time there’s a crisis, or a negative thing, the best thing you can do in that moment is to try to turn it around and make it something positive," she said.

At Gabriela’s Downtown, the RAIN Water Company teamed up with Austin SERVE to distribute thousands of bottles of water. RAIN water founder Mark Majkrzak drove 16 hours from Georgia to Texas to ensure the water was delivered. "Our freight carriers were worried that the roads wouldn’t be open and there might be issues getting deliveries into Austin, so I put it on my own truck and hooked up the trailer and just decided to bring it down," he said.

FOX 7 Austin has compiled a list of resources for food and water.