It took five days after the emergency was declared for officials to hand out bottled water, according to NBC News.
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Flint, which has about 99,000 residents in an estimated 30,000 households, has since returned to Detroit’s system for its water.
Last week, Snyder declared a state of emergency in response to high levels of lead in Flint’s water after the city redirected Flint’s water supply from Detroit Water’s Lake Huron source, a safe and tested drinking source, to the Flint River in 2014.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has requested support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help with Flint’s drinking water crisis.
The state authorities have been criticised for the speed with which they have responded to the crisis.
The results of the cost-cutting move, implemented by state-appointed emergency manager Darnell Earley, prompted immediate complaints and a boil-water advisory.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. The 211 call centers for the Heart of West Michigan United Way and United Way of West Michigan are taking overflow calls from the Flint area, helping to connect residents to resources.
National Guard members arrived in Flint on Wednesday to aid in the state of Michigan’s water crisis response effort. “However, we also need federal assistance as we continue to cope with this man-made water disaster”.
Flint police are warning people to be wary of scammers trying to prey on residents amid the city’s drinking water crisis.
Meanwhile, water resource teams, including MI state police and other state personnel, started distributing bottled water, water filters, replacement cartridges, and testing kits to residents.
Residents in Flint have been unable to drink tap water for months after the city switched its supply in 2014 to save money. Lead is known to cause permanent mental and physical disabilities. Chief James Tolbert said his department has received reports of people selling water filters even though filters are being distributed for free.
It was the state’s Department of Environmental Quality that signed off on the city’s water treatment plan that didn’t add the proper chemicals to Flint’s water, and used the wrong federal regulations to monitor the city’s system after it made the switch to Flint River water.
Late Tuesday, the governor issued an executive order to activate the National Guard, the state’s latest step in an effort to provide relief to Flint residents exposed to contaminated drinking water.
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Rep. Dan Kildee, a Democrat who represents Flint and Genesee County in Congress, said Tuesday night that he had repeatedly asked Snyder, a Republican, to use the National Guard, adding: “I am glad to see he has finally acted on this matter”.
