Jackson, Mississippi, is without reliable running water. The water system broke down after the city experienced severe flooding, leaving it with insufficient pressure for proper functioning.
“The city of Jackson, we don’t have water,” NFL legend Deion Sanders, head coach of the Jackson State University’s football team, said on Instagram. “Water means we don’t have air conditioning. We can’t use toilets. We don’t have water. We don’t have ice.”
While the National Guard has been activated to help distribute bottled water in the area, many residents find it impossible to get any. City officials point out the challenge of providing bottled water for 180,000 people in and around Jackson.
Schools in Jackson have switched to virtual learning during the crisis, according to NBC News. Resident Lorene Terrell told the outlet that her 11-year-old granddaughter and 5-year-old grandson helped her carry cases of water back home instead of going to class. “They need to be at school, instead of here with me because they’re just playing,” the 59-year-old said.
Jackson residents are afraid. “I keep saying we’re going to be the next Michigan,” Jeraldine Watts, 86, told CNN of the crisis in Jackson. “And it looks like that’s exactly what we’re headed for.” In Flint, elected officials denied for over a year that the city’s water was not only contaminated with e-coli, but also with lead, before finally admitting that the water wasn’t safe in September 2015. In the aftermath of the water crisis in Flint, residents now suffer from a host of symptoms: anemia, memory loss, brain fog and fatigue., even diverticulitis, a digestive disease, which some blame on the lead.
Jackson resident Lynn Jones said, “It’s not OK, you know, we need to do something about it because we do pay taxes and we expect that the system will work.” In the meantime, the scramble to find botted water becomes more and more intense.
