Brown water runs from tap in Mississippi amid water crisis
JACKSON, MIss. - A Mississippi resident filmed brown water coming from her tap as the state's capital city deals with a water crisis.
Molly Minta, who lives in the Belhaven neighborhood of Jackson, recorded the disturbing image Friday afternoon as a boil-water notice remains in place for the area.
"My landlord’s office manager said several properties in this area are affected," Minta told Storyful.
RELATED: Mississippi water crisis: Governor declares state of emergency after flooding, treatment issues
The Mississippi National Guard is helping to supply residents with bottled and non-potable water.
Governor Tate Reeves said progress was being made on the city’s water crisis, but the boil-water notice would not be lifted at the weekend, according to Storyful.
No Safe Drinking Water: Crisis in Mississippi's capital | LiveNOW from FOX
A failure of a main water treatment plant in the wake of severe flooding last week has left much of the entire town of Jackson, Mississippi without reliable drinking water. Major flooding on the Pearl River from recent torrential rains severely damaged the town's main treatment plant, creating water pressure issues and leaving the plant unable to supply the city. "It means the city cannot produce enough water to fight fires, to reliably flush toilets, and to meet other critical needs," said Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves. Both Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and Gov. Reeves have declared a state of emergency in Jackson and mobilized local and state resources – including activating the National Guard – to meet the challenge of now providing water to the city's 180,000 residents. Jackson has been under a boil water notice for weeks, but the recent flooding and torrential rain made issues at the water treatment facility worse with low water pressure and inadequate treatment to clean the water. "Until it is fixed, it means we do not have reliable running water at scale," Reeves said. Officials are scrambling to provide distribution stations where residents can now get both drinking water and non-drinking water. Reeves said water is already being provided for firefighting emergencies. In the meantime, with the treatment plant down, officials are urging residents not to drink any water that still comes from the tap.`
Torrential rains and flooding of the Pearl River in late August exacerbated problems at one of Jackson’s two treatment plants, leading to a drop in pressure throughout the city.
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. Long lines have formed each day for limited supplies of bottled water at distribution sites.
Reeves declared a state of emergency for Jackson’s water system. 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.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration request for the state of Mississippi, directing his administration to surge federal assistance to the region, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted.
RELATED: Mississippi water crisis: Jackson students return to school amid challenges
Like many cities, Jackson faces water system problems it can’t afford to fix. Its tax base has eroded the past few decades as the population decreased — the result of mostly white flight to suburbs that began after public schools integrated in 1970. The city’s population is now more than 80% Black, with about 25% of its residents living in poverty.
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.
Storyful and the Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.