Residents were dealing with a flood after a fiber optic installation crew hit a water line.
KATY, Texas — Residents of the Cinco Ranch subdivision in Katy were left frustrated and without water for hours on a sweltering summer day after a fiber optic installation crew accidentally struck a water line.
The incident happened early Thursday morning and left many in the neighborhood searching for answers.
Maribel Guerrero, a resident whose home was directly affected, described the chaos.
“There was noise, and my dog started going crazy,” she said.
The damage caused a large amount of water to gush out in front of her home, creating a frustrating and unexpected wake-up call.
The crew, working for Ezee Fiber, was installing fiber optic cables when the mishap occurred. Guerrero explained that the water continued to flow out of her driveway, leaving her and her neighbors without water for hours in the scorching heat.
Guerrero, along with several of her neighbors, reached out to both Ezee Fiber and Fort Bend County for assistance, but said their calls went unanswered.
“That’s the most frustrating part — there’s no answer,” she said. “Nobody owns it. There’s no accountability for these things.”
In response to the incident, utility crews were deployed to repair the damaged line. Todd Burrer, president of the local Municipal Utility District (MUD), assured the public that repairs were underway.
“We did get crews out here very quickly,” Burrer said, adding that water service would be restored by the evening.
This latest issue highlights a broader trend in the area. Earlier this year, the City of Katy instituted a four-month moratorium on fiber optic installations due to repeated water line breaks caused by construction crews. The city council later passed new, tougher regulations aimed at preventing further damage and ensuring better oversight of fiber optic installations within city limits.
Burrer pointed out that utility lines in the area have been in place for decades and stressed the importance of contractors calling Texas 811, the state’s underground utility location service, before digging.
Ezee Fiber, the company behind the installation, issued a statement acknowledging the error and apologizing for the disruption.
The statement reads: “From time to time, our construction crews may accidentally strike an underground water or sewer or other utility line, as what occurred today in a neighborhood of about 30 homes in Cinco Ranch. We regret these rare instances and apologize for the inconvenience it causes to impacted residents.
Our fiber internet construction work is authorized and permitted by government authorities, and we use professional contracting crew with specialized equipment. Still, accidents may happen for a variety of reasons, but it’s often due to mismarked or unmarked utility lines, as it was in this case.
Our community relations and construction employees have been dispatched to the scene to oversee the repairs being completed by city municipal utility district employees. Our people have bottled water available to anyone in the immediate neighborhood who needs it.
It is our understanding from the authorities that water service should be returned within hours. We regret this situation and hope residents will have water service soon today.”
– Jim Schwartz, Company spokesperson