The capital of Mississippi has long had a water problem. But pumps at a major water treatment plant were damaged this summer, and flooding of the Pearl River from heavy rains last week affected the treatment process, said Jackson Mayor U Chokwe Antar Lumumba. There is currently not enough water pressure to serve approximately 180,000 people in the city.
Mississippi Rep. Ronnie Crudup Jr. told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, “It’s been a difficult situation, not just for myself, but for residents across the city of Jackson.” “More than 180,000 people are currently suffering because of this water outage.”
“It’s more than an inconvenience,” the mayor told CNN’s Pamela Brown. rice field.
Here’s a look at some of the amazing effects of living without running drinking water.
No water for toilet or tooth brushing
Crudup said there was no water last night, but this morning there was enough water to flush the toilet, but the water was discolored and unsafe to drink.
He and his family used bottled water to brush their teeth this morning.
People told CNN’s Ryan Young that they collect rainwater to flush toilets and brush their teeth.
There is no air conditioning in the medical center
Some of the University of Mississippi Medical Center facilities in Jackson are having problems as a result of the water crisis.
The Jackson Medical Mall’s air conditioning is not working properly “because the water pressure supplied to the chiller is too low,” UMMC said in a statement Tuesday.
A water tanker truck is expected to arrive Tuesday afternoon to supply the system with water and make it fully operational, the center said.
No classes or businesses are closed
Jackson Public Schools and Jackson State University are conducting virtual classes due to lack of water.
Many businesses closed Tuesday and many went virtual, but some businesses, including restaurants, are bringing in their own water tankers to help feed some of Jackson’s residents.
Jackson State Football Program in “Crisis Mode”
Jackson State University’s head football coach said its football program was in “crisis mode.”
“Water means no air conditioning. Can’t use the restrooms,” coach Deion Sanders said on Instagram. “We have no water and therefore no ice. This is straining the program quite a bit. That is why we are now operating in crisis mode.”
Sanders said, “We take children off-campus, children who live on-campus, children who live in the city of Jackson, to the hotel so that they can be properly showered and their needs taken care of. must be..
The coach is trying to find a place for the team to continue practicing.
“Find a place that can accommodate everything we need and want to be, and that’s the dominance,” Sanders said.
firefighters have no water
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves declared a state of emergency on Monday, saying there was not enough water to fight fires and flush toilets.
Reeves said the water will be brought into the city by tanker and organized for fire safety and life safety, as well as sanitation.
“Replacing the water infrastructure of our largest cities with human rations is a very complex logistical task,” Reeves said.
waiting hours for a case of water
On Tuesday in Jackson, the temperature was 91 degrees when cars lined up over a mile to get a case of 24 12-ounce bottles of water at one of the distribution locations. For some, he waited over two and a half hours before reaching the front of the line and being told they had run out of water.
Geraldine Watts, 86, stood in a line two miles long, she told CNN.
Watts, who was born and raised in Jackson, lives at home with her daughter and granddaughter and said she must use bottled or boiled water for everything, including brushing her teeth, cooking and washing dishes.
“If I had a bigger family, how long would one case last?” Watts asked.
“It’s not okay,” Jackson resident Lynn Jones told CNN. “You know, we pay our taxes and we expect the system to work, so something needs to be done.”
fundraiser for water
Rosa Barron, pastor of AME Church in Jackson, wants to turn her church into a pickup location and is raising money to buy water.
“I had someone who used to go to church tell me I had to move out of my apartment because the water supply had stopped,” Barron said. “Another person told me he had been filling the bathtub for hours just to get enough water to flush the toilet.”
When the city warned residents last week that the river could reach its summit, Baron began preparing for a possible water crisis, she said.
“The City of Jackson has already had almost 31 days without adequate water pressure. It felt like the breaking point was coming,” she said.
Last year, several AME churches in Mississippi came together to raise money to buy water for Jackson Church, Barron said.
“People in the apartments had no water, could not cook or bathe. They were as waterless as they are now.”
Barron plans to raise money to buy water for people to use at her church. She also has plans to deliver water to locals who can’t leave their homes, as the church did last year, she said.
CNN’s Amy Simonson, Ryan Young, Carol Alvarado and Sarah Smart contributed to this report.
Source: www.cnn.com
