How Texans have coped without water in US heat wave

Over 160,000 people in the Texas city of Odessa have been without water for two days as temperatures topped 36C (97F). How are they coping?

In the middle of a scorching heat wave, Cheryl Castillo-Moore is thankful for her hot tub.

Along with hundreds of thousands of her neighbours, she and her husband have been out of water for days, after a major water line broke. The line was over 60 years old.

Since her backyard hot tub was full at the time of the outage, she has had enough water to do things like flush her toilet - something many residents have been unable to do.

Ms Castillo-Moore has been more than happy to help others and told neighbours not to knock, "just walk in there, get your water".

The water outage could not come at a worst time, as the city - like many cities across the country - is experiencing a blistering heat wave.

Meteorologists are calling this weather pattern a "ring of fire" phenomenon, which is contributing to the extreme heat Odessa is experiencing.

Areas under this high pressure dome will be hot and muggy while areas near the edge of the dome see more thunderstorms. Large sections of the continental US is affected in some way by this weather pattern - other parts of the south and Midwest are facing dangerous heat, too.

The heat index in St Louis, Missouri, reached 43C (110F) earlier this week. For states in the the upper periphery of this "ring", severe thunderstorms are causing intense winds, hail and flash flooding.

The majority of Odessa now has water, though there is still a water boil notice. City officials said they are confident water has been restored to the whole city, but admitted there were some complaints from individuals who are still without water.

The community has been trying its best to help one another, say residents.

"That's been nice to see that people are, you know, taking time off work to help the community and making sure that people are not going without water", said Cody Huelster, who has lived in Odessa his entire life.

People with trucks and trailers have brought well water from outside of town and have parked it in central locations so people can get as much water as they can for free, he said.

But coping without water in the middle of the heat has not been easy.

"It's like going from living in your house to camping in your house," Mr Huelster said.

There are currently 60 million Americans under a heat warning or heat advisory.

This extreme heat is expected to continue for the next couple of weeks. Two people in Wisconsin died from possible heat-related deaths and in Kansas, at least 2,000 cattle are believed to have died because of the heat and humidity.

Nearly half a million homes were left without power after a thunderstorm rolled through the Midwest this week.

Heat is also blanketing parts of Europe, with France, Spain, Italy and the UK experiencing high temperatures.

For parents in Odessa, the water outage has been extra stressful.

Angelica Robertson is a college student and stay-at-home mom who is 33 weeks pregnant. She told the BBC the last few days have been "stressful" wondering what will happen if her family runs out of water or if they don't boil water long enough.

She said her anxiety has increased since the water main break and she has experienced two panic attacks since the water outage began on Monday.

To cope with the lack of water and the heat, Angelica said her family has been blasting air conditioning, limiting sunlight in the apartment and keeping the lights off inside.

Alyssa Palma has a four-month-old baby and 11-year-old son. Thanks to stocking up on water and formula, she has had enough to feed her baby, which makes her happy, she said. She has also had to go to her in-law's house to fetch well water for her and family's two dogs.

Alyssa said she is frightened to cook with contaminated water so she's been eating cereal, canned food or frozen foods. Last night she and her baby daughter went to shower at the Hilton Garden Inn where her mom booked a room for this week.

The water outage has also affected local businesses. Ms Castillo-Moore, who has a bakery, said she's had four cake orders to deliver this weekend that she's had to cancel and refund.

But at least the hot tub was a saving grace for her family more than once. On Wednesday, before their water was restored, Cheryl's husband "got a little bit desperate" and took a "shower" in the hot tub.

"He said 'I really need a hot shower, Cheryl!'"