Richmond’s recent water crisis left residents scrambling for drinkable water for days after a winter storm knocked out power at the water treatment plant, triggering a backup system failure and major flooding.

Richmond has contracted with two consulting firms to investigate both the water crisis and the city's emergency response to it. Why it matters: It's one step closer to residents finding out what really happened and why social media seemed to know about the water running out hours before officials informed the public.

How a meager snowstorm could cripple Richmond's water supply for six calendar days is still being investigated. Here's a timeline of how the events unfolded.

Past inspections cited Richmond water plant for deteriorating equipment Inspection reports obtained by CBS 6 revealed that Richmond's Department of Public Utilities has been previously cited for failures related to its emergency planning and deteriorating equipment.

Richmond Department of Public Utilities Director April Bingham resigned a week after water outages paralyzed Virginia‘s capital city. The water outages began last week when a winter storm battered the Old Dominion and there was a power outage at the city’s water treatment plant.

The city is giving further insight into what went wrong with Richmond’s reservoir system on Monday, leaving residents in and around Richmond with little to no water.

Richmond officials have selected an engineering firm to investigate the city’s water crisis earlier this month, according to mayor Danny Avula.