(Headline USA) Mississippi’s capital city is grappling with multiple water problems — too much on the ground after heavy rainfall in the past week, and not enough safe water coming through the pipes for people to use.
Parts of Jackson were without running water Tuesday because flooding exacerbated longstanding problems in one of two water-treatment plants. The city of 150,000 had already been under a boil-water notice for a month because the Health Department found cloudy water that could cause digestive problems.
“They are making it impossible for us to do business in Jackson, Mississippi,” restaurant owner Derek Emerson told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Emerson and his wife, Jennifer, own the upscale Walker’s Drive-In. He said they have been spending $300 a day for bottled water in the past month.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said late Monday that he’s declaring a state of emergency for Jackson’s water system, and he issued the proclamation Tuesday. The state will try to help resolve problems by hiring contractors to work at the treatment plant, which was operating at diminished capacity with backup pumps after the main pumps failed “some time ago,” Reeves said.
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said Jackson’s water system is troubled by short staffing and “decades of deferred maintenance.”
Lumumba is Democrat and was not invited to the Republican governor’s Monday night news conference — another indication of tension between two politicians who are often at odds.
Low water pressure left some people unable to take showers or flush toilets and officials said the low pressure caused concern for firefighting. Those who did have water flowing from the tap were told to boil it to kill bacteria that could make them sick.
“The water is not safe to drink, and I’d even say it’s not safe to brush your teeth with,” the state health officer, Dr. Dan Edney, said Monday.
Jackson schools held classes online Tuesday, and some restaurants closed. Jackson State University brought in temporary restrooms for students, and Jackson State football coach Deion Sanders said the water crisis left his players without air conditioning or ice at their practice facility. In a video that one of his sons posted to social media, Sanders — also known as Coach Prime — said he wanted to move players into a hotel so they could shower.
“We’re going to find somewhere to practice, find somewhere that can accommodate every durn thing that we need and desire to be who we desire to be, and that’s dominate,” Sanders said. “The devil is a lie. He ain’t going to get us today, baby.”
Lumumba said last week that fixing Jackson’s water system could cost $200 million. That is more than two times the $75 million the whole state is receiving to address water problems as part a green spending spree infrastructure bill.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
