Ty Carter fills containers with non-potable water on August 31 in Jackson, Mississippi. The state capital is having difficulty accessing safe drinking water after historic rain and flooding led to a pressure drop at Jackson’s main water treatment plant on Aug.
Brad Vest / Getty Images
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Ty Carter fills containers with non-potable water on August 31 in Jackson, Mississippi. The state capital is having difficulty accessing safe drinking water after historic rain and flooding led to a pressure drop at Jackson’s main water treatment plant on Aug.
Brad Vest / Getty Images
JACKSON, ma’am. – Beatrice Gilmore has been trying to get some water passed around town since she lost nearly all pressure in her faucet on Monday. She spent hours going to the distribution points and waiting in line, only a few cars were about to run out of stock. So she got super excited on Wednesday when she finally got a bucket of water for herself and her sister.
“I’m going to take a sponge bath!” she laughed. She’ll also use it for drinking and cooking, a welcome change from the canned food she’s been warming up all week. Another man in the line said all he and his son ate was cereal.
Historic downpours and flooding led to a pressure drop at Jackson’s main water treatment plant on Monday. That leaves everyone with just a drop of water — Gilmore says hers is “a bit brown” — or none at all. President Biden has declared a disaster, activated federal aid, and the state is sending in the National Guard. But until that number grows, the demand for bottled water has outstripped what is currently available.
When Gilmore received one of the final cases, a long line of cars was still running around the Walmart parking lot where water donations were made. There’s only an hour left, but Major Ethan Frizzel of the Salvation Army says another water truck will appear soon.
“Given the price of gas and the challenges, we don’t want people to take longer than necessary to get to such a basic human need.”
The lack of water has also closed school buildings and businesses, affecting the lives of people like Ayesha Stevenson.
She went to the water line in the parking lot with her 5-year-old and 7-year-old in the back seat, because they were learning remotely. Schools are boiling water to prepare breakfast bags and lunches for students. Jackson’s poverty rate is 25%, and many families live on school meals. Stevenson was a chef at Waffle House that had to be closed, so Wednesday was her third day without work without pay. She said she would need to find something to make up for that loss.
But her biggest disappointment is that this is just the latest in a series of water crises. Since the last one early last year – after a record freeze in February – Stevenson has not returned to tap water because it made her children sick.
“I can’t even picture myself drinking it,” she said. But “you go and buy food and water all the time. It’s very expensive.”
At a news conference late in the day, Governor Tate Reeves said 600 members of the Mississippi National Guard will deploy on Thursday to distribute bottled water and hand sanitizer on a larger scale.
“I know it’s not easy and it’s not fair for any of you to deal with this,” he said. “In fact, it’s a huge burden that you as a citizen shouldn’t have to shoulder.”
