You don’t want to run out of clean water. Residents of Jackson, Mississippi are facing thirst amidst flooding. A flash flood that hit the city broke its fragile water treatment system, leaving residents’ taps pouring out dirty water. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency for Jackson. The city, he said, can’t even produce enough water to fight fires or flush toilets. Watch his press conference below:
Governor Reeves says that the time residents must rely on delivered water is unknown. He has called in the National Guard to help deliver water to residents. James Gant reports for the Daily Mail:
Mississippi activated its National Guard on Tuesday to help distribute water to tens of thousands of Jackson residents after a long-troubled treatment plant broke down, leaving most of the state capital without safe running water, possibly for days.
Governor Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency for Jackson and surrounding communities, warning the area’s 180,000 people to avoid drinking tap water.
He also called up the state National Guard to assist in efforts to bring relief to the city, which was battered by record rainfall and flooding over the weekend.
Tankers distributed non-potable water and bottled drinking water was distributed at several sites, the city said.
The state trucked in 10 tractor-trailers of water on Tuesday and was expecting another 108 trucks in the coming days, state emergency management director Stephen McCraney told reporters.
The breakdown occurred Monday when floodwaters seeped into the understaffed and poorly maintained O.B. Curtis treatment plant. An emergency team had the plant working at 40% capacity on Tuesday, senior state health officer Jim Craig said, and a temporary pump was expected to be installed on Wednesday and increase capacity further.
But the system was still short of sufficient water pressure to guarantee service citywide. Officials said they could not estimate how many homes were cut off.
The shutdown created havoc for businesses, and Jackson public schools, with nearly 21,000 students, were forced to move classes online as they had done during the coronavirus pandemic.
Supermarket shelves were stripped of bottled water, and police in a cruiser alerted people when supplies ran out at one distribution site in a retail parking lot. Volunteers apologized to people when they had no more water to give, urging them to return on Wednesday starting at 5 a.m.
Read that last paragraph one more time. Supermarket shelves were stripped bare. If you’re relying on the supermarket for your water, you’re already in trouble. The Biden-era supply chain and a disaster like this just don’t mix.
Action Line: Store water at home, and make sure you have ways to purify water. Click here to read my free special report Emergency Water Storage: How Much, Containers, Purification & More. If you want even more advice for storing water, click here to download my free report WATER SECURITY: How to Save Rainwater Effectively.
