Jackson, Mississippi, water crisis leaves residents with no running water, no hospitals air air conditioning and schools moved online

Mother of three Cassandra Welchlin, head director of Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable told CNN her children out of school and they had to buy water for cooking, brushing teeth and for Another basic needs.

Welchlyn said brown water was coming out of her taps. “We still don’t use this water, we don’t boil it to do anything with it’s because the graininess in water, she said. – It’s really bad public safety issue.”

Jackson resident, Geraldine Watts, said she managed to catch something. of in last water bottle crates at the grocery store store Monday. She and her family Was using bottled or boiled tap water for everything, including cooking and washing dishes.

“I keep saying that we will next Michigan,” said Watts, “and looks like that’s exactly what we’re heading for.”

Flint, Michigan was hit with water crisis in 2015 when drinking water is spoiled containing lead and other toxins have been found in homes and residents reported children suffering from mysterious diseases.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced in main water treatment plant in capital city on Monday began to fail, meaning that it could not produce enough water for fight fires, securely flush toilets and meet others critical needs.

Reeves announced the state of The State of Emergency activated the Mississippi National Guard and said the state is committing resources to city and the start of the emergency maintenance. “We will do everything in our power restore water pressure and ensure water supply back to people of Jackson, he said.

The water crisis has turned almost everything upside down of life in in the city public schools switched to virtual I study on Tuesday.

Jackson University of Mississippi Medical Center said air air conditioning in one the facility is not functioning properly and portable toilets are being used in other facilities.

At Jackson State University, “water pressure is low to zero throughout the campus.” locations”and water is being delivered to the students,” officials said. head football coach Deion Sanders, told him football program is in “crisis mode”.

Like crews work buy a water treatment plant back onlinemembers of The National Guard is handing out bottled water, state officials said, but those efforts proved unsustainable on Tuesday.

At the distribution of water event at Hawkins Field airport, residents were turned away when the site went live out of its 700 cases of water in just two hours.

Longtime Trouble in Jackson’s Troubled Waters system

problem this week is related to one of two water treatment plants in in the city the OB Curtis factory that was jaded with shortage of personnel and three decades of maintenance has been postponed, said Jackson Chokwe Mayor Antar Lumumba.

main pumps at the plant were recently severely damaged and this is the beginning operating on smaller standby pumps about a month ago – about the time when latest a notice about boiling water began – and this made failure Most likely, the governor said.

flood of The Pearl River after recent heavy rains has affected the cleaning processes and therefore amount of running water system can provide, Lumumba said.

“I said on a few times it doesn’t matter of “if” our system would fail of ‘when’ our system would fail”, the mayor said, adding that city was an’ go at it alone for the best part of two years” when it comes to the water crisis.

Reeves said the state would share cost of emergency repair with in the city but the mayor said he would cost $2 billion for a complete overhaul and replacement of an obsolete system and this money in city does not have. “We don’t have the money in order to deal with 30 years of neglect,” the mayor told CNN.
Early 2020 Jackson water system failed inspection of the Environmental Protection Agency, which found drinking water could potentially host harmful bacteria or parasites.
In February 2021, a severe winter storm hits pipes freezing and bursting, leaving many residents without water for month.

“Since then, there hasn’t been a month that we haven’t experienced no flow in low flow conditions. in certain areas in in south Jackson, and so it’s very frustrating,” Jackson City Council member Aaron Banks told CNN.

“The sad thing about this is that – and the sad reality — it becomes somewhat of the norm and we deserve better quality of life is right here in capital city of Jackson, Mississippi,” Banks said.

In July 2021, the EPA and city entered into an agreement to resolve “oldterm challenges and make necessary improvements to drinking water system”Environmental Protection Agency also recently announced $74.9 million in federal water supply and sewerage funds for Mississippi.

What the government is being done

Lumumba told CNN’s Pamela Brown, city works on more water distribution events.

Ten cargo trailers of water was expected arrive in Jackson and more than 108 semi-trucks of water is coming in over in next several days, according to Lieutenant Colonel Stephen McCraney, director of Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Starting Thursday, there will be seven distribution megasites with 36 trucks of water available everyday for in publicMcCraney said.

Corporations like Anheuser-Busch, Walmart and Save A Lot, and volunteer organizations also water donation in the city added.

Banks stated that city is also provision of flushing water. “One of in first the things we understood is that people need be able to flush because it becomes problem with regard to the establishment sure what people have this quality of the life they need,” he said.

“In the end of day, we need a fix and the same attention that was paid to Flint, Michigan, we need the same attention is being paid to Jackson,” Banks said.

Reeves said FEMA received a statement requesting federal government declare water shortages a federal emergency.

President Joe Biden has been briefed on water crisis in Jackson and the White Housemade clear that the federal government is ready to offer assistance,” secretary This was announced on Tuesday by Karine Jean-Pierre.

“FEMA is working closely with government officials to determine needs, and EPA coordinates with industry partners for faster delivery of critical treatment equipment for emergency repairs in of Jackson Wastewater Treatment Plant,” she said.

CNN’s Amir Vera, Amanda Musa and Amy Simonson contributed to this report.

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