Before the latest siege of Taiz took hold, Hadil al-Shahid and her two young children went through roughly ten liters of bottled water each day for drinking and cooking. Now, they must stretch that exact amount across four days. In Yemen's third-largest city, home to over one million people, residents are rationing every drop as an escalating blockade by Houthi rebels chokes off the city's already fragile water supplies.
The shortage worsened dramatically after Houthi forces seized the nearby Red Sea port of Mokha and gained control of strategic roads encircling Taiz. The advance severed access to surrounding groundwater wells and largely cut off the private delivery trucks that residents have depended on for years. The few truckers still willing to navigate the perilous routes into the city have in some cases tripled their fees, while the price of bottled water has jumped by up to 75%, driving families to purchase drinking water on credit and abandon daily routines like brewing tea or coffee.
Humanitarian agencies warn that the water cutoff is triggering a severe public health emergency. Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the United Nations emergency aid coordination arm, pointed out that cascading fuel shortages have crippled water utilities and desalination plants while bringing municipal waste-collection services and hospital generators to a standstill. With uncollected refuse mounting across the city, the threat of waterborne epidemics such as cholera has escalated, particularly as thirsty families resort to drawing water from unprotected and potentially contaminated wells.
The crisis is compounded by the arrival of an estimated 124,000 displaced people who have sought refuge in Taiz province since fighting flared in August. Many now survive on a single meal a day in makeshift shelters, while skyrocketing fuel and cooking gas prices force households to cook over burning scrap cardboard and wood. For residents like al-Shahid, whose hair salon was forced to close as customers diverted all spending toward food and water, everyday survival has narrowed to a precarious search for clean drinking water and basic sustenance.