5 Things To Know About The Ongoing Water Crisis In Jackson, Mississippi
The city has been devastated since Feb. 16 when record-low temperatures froze machinery at the city’s water treatment plant, causing more than a hundred water main breaks and leaks, according to Truthout. Due to the damage, the plants were unable to maintain adequate water pressure.
“I know residents are trying to understand this process and be patient — they just want to see water,” Mayor Chokwe Lumumba said at a press conference, CBS News reported. “I think it’s important to start with the understanding that what we have faced and what we have seen as a result of the winter storm, water treatment facilities are not meant to shut down at the level that we experienced.”
The mayor said the city’s water issue “has gone decades without being addressed sufficiently.” According to Lumumba, Jackson is an “aging city with an aging budget,” boasting about a $300 million annual budget and “more than likely, a more than $2 billion issue with our infrastructure.”
A week earlier, the mayor said misinformation has been spreading about relief efforts following the storm and that the devastation is “an act of God.”
“It was an act of God, extreme weather, that sent old systems into havoc and put our residents in trauma,” he said. “In moments of crisis, the first casualty is trust, which is why I’m calling up not only the media, but our council people.”
The city said at least 70 of the treatment plants had been repaired last week. But residents are still waiting hours in lines to get water bottles or non-potable water for flushing toilets. The National Guard has also been assisting in water distribution.
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