Halifax County declared a state of emergency on February 5, 2026, due to the water main break in the Hollister community that caused a widespread outage impacting more than 2,000 customers. 

In addition to the primary leak and low reserve water levels, subcontractors installing broadband fiber struck water mains in the Roper Springs and Brinkleyville areas that caused water system pressures to fall below minimum. 

The State of Emergency prohibited all roadside construction to include digging, trenching, etc. to allow time for the primary leak to be located and repaired and water tower levels and pressures to recover without concern about additional breaks.

Now that the repair of the failed valve has been made and sufficient time has passed to allow water tower levels and pressures to recover, Halifax County is rescinding the State of Emergency effective February 18, 2026, at 12:00 p.m.