MATTOON, Ill. (WAND) — After the City of Mattoon issued an unsafe drinking water advisory, it left citizens driving across town to find safe water. Multiple stores and organizations answered the call, letting people know when and where they could find clean bottled water.Â
The Express Drive Thru posted on Facebook that they'd have plenty of water. Samuel Farrar, an employee at the Drive Thru, said they had been inundated with customers the whole day.
"More than I can count," he exclaimed. "I probably already sold more water, more pallets of water, more cases of water than I've ever sold in a day."
Rural King was also fully stocked with water and prepared for the weekend. Customer Brenda Herman said there was more than enough water, and that customers were being courteous to each other and lending a helping hand.
"Everybody is helping everybody. And I noticed in the store, instead of taking a whole pallet of water, people are saying, "Well, I'll just take 2 or 3 to get me through because I don't want to take it from somebody else who might need it worse," she said.
The City of Mattoon is still advising that citizens drink bottled water and refrain from consuming the contaminated water for the time being.
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