be prepared

City of Houston announces boil notice updates, timeline, and important tips

This map displays all area affected by the boil notice.

Image courtesy of City of Houston

UPDATE - Tuesday, November 29: The City of Houston has lifted the boil water notice that it issued Sunday, November 27.

This comes as Houston Water confirms that it has taken the necessary corrective actions to restore the quality of the water distributed by this public water system used for drinking water or human consumption

Customers should flush their water system by running cold-water faucets for at least one minute, cleaning automatic ice makers by making and discarding several batches of ice, and running water softeners through a regeneration cycle.

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Greater Houston and many surrounding areas are in the midst of a boil water notice after water pressure dropped below the City of Houston's required minimum of 20 PSI due to a power outage at the East Water Purification Plan around 10:30 am Sunday, November 27.

Under city guidelines and those set in part by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, city water pressure must be at least 20 DPI to ensure contaminants do not enter the flow. Notably, according to the director of Houston Water, Yvonne Williams Forrest, the city's water pressure never dropped to zero — but did fall below the regulatory limit.

Additionally, Forrest says the city boil notice could last until the early hours of Tuesday, November 29.

As reported by CultureMap news partner ABC13, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner provided a timeline for the outage on Sunday:

10:30 am: East water purification plants 1 and 2 lose power

Plant 3 loses power, 14 sensors below 20 PSI for less than 2 minutes, 2 sensors below 20 PSI for 30 minutes, 5 sensors never fell below 20 PSI

12:15 pm: Power restored to plants 1 and 2

12:30 pm: Power restored to plant 3

3:30 pm: All sensors back to 35 PSI

Residents expressed outrage on social media that they weren't notified of the boil notice until late Sunday night. In response that same night, several school districts — including Houston ISD — announced they would close on Monday, November 28. ABC13 has the full list of schools here; parents should watch their school districts' social media for updates regarding classes resuming.

Concerned residents who are unsure if the boil notice affects their neighborhood can view this map that displays the entire affected.

Early Monday, the City of Houston announced on Twitter that the aforementioned Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) approved a plan by the Houston Public Works department to sample water and send to labs for testing.

🚨 The @TCEQ has approved the @HouPublicWorks water sampling plan.
Workers will begin collecting samples this morning and will do two complete sets to send to the lab for processing. https://t.co/uymRIVts6o
— City of Houston (@HoustonTX) November 28, 2022

Boil notices are nothing new to the Gulf Coast and Greater Houston areas, given the propensity for storms and flooding. But as longtime Houstonians know, there are few key things to remember when under a boil notice. These tips include:

Boiling all water used for food, drinking, and brushing teeth

Boiling the water for at least 2 to 3 minutes — even for making coffee

Avoiding chilled water lines from on the refrigerators

Avoiding ice from an automated ice machines

The City of Houston also reminds residents to call 3-1-1 for any boil-notice-related questions.

toy story

Houston Toy Museum will shutter in the Heights after 4 years

Luke Skywalker action figure Houston Toy Museum

Photos via Houston Toy Museum

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Childhood whimsy took a mortal blow this week as the Houston Toy Museum announced it would be closing its storefront on 19th Street at the end of August.

"The truth is, we fell in love with the idea of being in a space that already held so much history and nostalgia for so many," wrote founders Matt and Sara Broussard in an Instagram post on Wednesday, July 22. "So we dreamed big, took a leap, and in some ways bit off more than we could chew. Even so, we are deeply proud of what we have built and have no regrets!"

The couple cited rising rent prices as the primary reason for the closure. The Greater Houston Partnership reports that gross office rent prices in the second quarter of 2026 had jumped to $31/square foot, up from a $28/square foot a year ago. For a 4,932 square foot building like the Houston Toy Museum at 321 W. 19th, such increases can compound into an untenable amount.

The Broussards assured their fans and supporters that the Houston Toy Museum was not disappearing completely. They plan to continue hosting events around the city, including pop-ups and LEGO builds. Their Instagram post ended with a hopeful promise that they will find another storefront location sometime in the future.

When the Houston Toy Museum first opened in 2022, it quickly became a one-of-a-kind hub of pop culture in the city. Built from donated toys and the Broussards' large personal collection, it housed an impressive array of everything from century-old dolls to the immense G.I. Joe playset the U.S.S . Flagg (which is 7.5 feet long) to modern video game systems. The museum hosted film screenings, community talks, and more on the history and importance of play. It also sold a lot of toys in the gift shop.

All of those items are headed to storage, but the Broussards remained upbeat and thankful for the four years they were able to entertain and delight Houston.

"What started as a daydream became a space filled with joy, nostalgia, creativity, connection, and community," said the statement. "We watched families make memories here, saw people reconnect with pieces of their childhood, hosted incredible events, and felt an outpouring of support that we will never forget.We owe so much to you, our community. You showed up for us again and again, and we cannot thank you enough for believing in what we created. Heights residents, and beyond, you helped spread the word about our little museum. Many of you have been our biggest cheerleaders from day one and we are forever grateful for that."

museums houston toy museum closings the-heights