The crisis has intensified in recent weeks. Fuel shortages have reduced the capacity of desalination plants and left the city’s water utility struggling to maintain even limited operations, humanitarian groups say. Water truckers who still make the dangerous trip have sharply raised their prices.

Hadil al-Shahid, a hair salon owner and mother of two, said her family once used about 10 liters of bottled water a day for drinking and cooking. They now make the same amount last four days. Bottled water costs as much as 75% more than it did a few weeks ago, and some households are buying it on credit.

“We stopped drinking coffee and tea, which we used to drink daily,” al-Shahid said in a phone interview.

The shortages extend beyond water. Food prices have surged, fuel is scarce, and services including hospitals, sanitation and community kitchens are under growing strain. Flour and rice cost about 50% more than they did over the summer, aid groups report.

Fuel for cooking has become especially expensive: the price of cooking gas has more than quadrupled, according to Hani Bafaqih, a water, sanitation and hygiene expert with CARE in Yemen. Some families have turned to burning wood, charcoal or cardboard to prepare meals. Waste collection has also stopped in some areas.

The crisis is increasing health risks, said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for a United Nations emergency aid office. Without fuel, water pumps and hospital generators can fail, while uncollected waste and reliance on potentially contaminated wells raise the danger of waterborne illness, including cholera.

Taiz has faced water problems for years. Damage to aging infrastructure from the war, population growth and recurring drought have depleted groundwater, leaving residents reliant on water delivered by truck. The current siege has further restricted that supply.

Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, when the Houthis seized large parts of the north, including the capital, Sanaa. Taiz, a strategic city in the country’s southwest, has been a focus of fighting since then. Houthi forces advanced around the city after taking the port area of Mokha, about 130 kilometers away, last month, according to the account of recent fighting.

The conflict has also driven people into Taiz province. The United Nations’ migration agency estimates that roughly 124,000 people displaced by fighting elsewhere in Yemen have arrived there since August, adding pressure to already limited supplies.

Amnesty International has urged the Houthis to reopen roads into Taiz, warning the city is nearing a severe humanitarian disaster. Yemen’s internationally recognized government retains control of the city center, while Houthi forces have tightened their grip on surrounding areas. Three Houthi officials have claimed the group controls about 80% of the countryside around Taiz and several neighborhoods inside it; those claims could not be independently verified.

Control of Taiz could help the Houthis advance farther south toward Aden and Lahj, analysts say. But an attempt to seize the city would likely bring a costly battle, said Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group.

Civilians remain exposed to the fighting. Missiles fired by Houthi forces struck a residential area earlier this week, killing two teenage girls. Ahmed Abdel Gaber, who was displaced from his home and now lives with nine relatives in the ruins of another building, said he hears explosions daily from fighting about 5 kilometers away. His family depends heavily on assistance and donations for food.

Al-Shahid said her salon closed as customers redirected money toward food and water. Her children, ages 10 and 5, now eat mostly rice, bread and cheese. She said leaving Taiz is unaffordable.

“Staying in our home is inevitable — whether it be a matter of life or death,” she said.