It’s been over two weeks since residents of Jackson, Mississippi have had clean drinking water. Some have resorted to melting snow in order to flush their toilets. Others have abruptly stopped their cars in the middle of the road, having spotted a pipe that’s gushing the now-precious commodity (watch above). Half the city’s schools are closed. The National Guard is helping distribute bottles of water.
For nearly two weeks now, tens of thousands of residents of Jackson, Mississippi, have gone without running water in their homes, leaving them with no clean drinking water and unable to bathe, cook, wash clothes, or flush toilets. https://t.co/Ru4DCp62S9
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) February 28, 2021
Such is the aftermath of a historic winter storm that rocked the region. Texas, America’s second most populous state, received most of the media attention as millions there were without electricity or running water for days on end. But the enduring catastrophe in not-that-nearby Mississippi reveals the widespread extent of a crumbling infrastructure system long ignored by both local and federal governments.
On Sunday, Jackson officials revealed that 80 water mains broke or leaked during the storm. Many have been repaired, but dozens remain weak links in the city’s integrated water system. Residents are still subject to a boil-water advisory. They’ve been asked to conserve as much as possible.
https://twitter.com/andrewlavallee/status/1365823844129402886
At a press conference on Sunday, Dr. Charles William, Jackson’s City Engineer, explained, “The complex nature of it is, our system crashed, like a computer, and now we’re trying to rebuild it. And so, the progress has been very slow.”
Jackson’s mayor, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, says it would cost an estimated $2 billion to replace the whole system. The city has an annual budget of $300 million.
82% of Jackson’s population is African-American. Maintenance crews report that some of the pipes they repaired in recent days are over 100 years old.
Cassandra Welchlin, head of a local nonprofit organization, told NBC News that the water crisis has set off a viscous cycle:
“All of this is interconnected. Because of the water crisis, some families lost a week of pay because many people couldn’t work. Teachers couldn’t teach because they don’t have internet connection. They don’t have power. Many people were unable to provide, so this is a much larger issue than a lot of people might see.”
"Long before the current crisis hit, one popular local t-shirt read “Welcome to Boil Water Alert, Mississippi.”
What’s different this time, residents say, is the sheer scale—the entire city is either without water or under a boil water alert."https://t.co/OnfmbXdnRW
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) March 1, 2021
On Tuesday, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves lifted his state’s mask mandate. Mississippi is still in the top 10 deaths per capita among U.S. states.
