Cushing Water Treatment Plant Shuts Down, Local McDonald's Steps Up

The town of Cushing was still without water on Tuesday after an emergency disaster was declared on Monday.

It all started after a flood in the basement of Cushing’s water treatment plant left the facility unable to decontaminate the town’s water supply.

With uncertainty ahead and store shelves wiped out of drinking water, one local restaurant is stepping up to help by rethinking its traditional drive-thru and handing out bottled water for free. 

McDonald’s General Manager Heather Plummer says helping out was a no-brainer. “I couldn’t sleep very well last night not knowing what was going to happen over the next few days and that was one thing I knew we had this water at our local office and I said we can help that way.”

The City of Cushing took to Facebook announcing an emergency disaster Monday afternoon. 

The flood left the town dependent on a limited store of clean water and the city’s post goes on to urge residents and businesses to “…limit consumption to essential activities only…”

Within hours, local stores were wiped out of bottled water. “The shelves were just bare already,” Plummer said. 

Plummer says all her employees volunteered to help hand out the free water on Tuesday, putting the Oklahoma standard on full display. “I was brought up where you help others and Oklahoma’s just that way,” she said. 

There’s no timeline on when things will go back to normal at Cushing’s water treatment plant. 

The city did say it will continue to update its Facebook page with important information about repairs to the water treatment plant. 

News 9 reached out to the city for comment but did not hear back.