In response to a water crisis in the State of Mississippi, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration and late on Tuesday, ordered Federal assistance to support the state’s response.
The White House issued a statement late Tuesday stating that “Emergency protective measures, including direct government assistance, would be provided at 75 percent Federal financing for a period of 90 days.”
According to the White House, the Biden administration also gave the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) permission to organise all disaster relief efforts in the state.
A long-struggling treatment facility completely down on Tuesday, leaving the majority of the state capital without safe running water for days, potentially longer. In response, Mississippi activated its National Guard to assist in distributing water to tens of thousands of Jackson citizens.
Governor Tate Reeves issued a warning to the 180,000 residents in the area not to drink the tap water after he declared an emergency in Jackson and the nearby municipalities. In an effort to help the city, which was ravaged by record rainfall and flooding over the weekend, he also activated the state National Guard.
Non-potable water was delivered via tankers, and bottled drinking water was given out at a number of locations, according to the city.
Agency disaster management director Stephen McCraney told reporters that the state trucked in 10 tractor-trailers of water on Tuesday and was anticipating another 108 trucks in the following days.
Floodwaters poured into the understaffed and inadequately maintained O.B. Curtis treatment plant on Monday, causing the meltdown. According to senior state health official Jim Craig, an emergency team had the facility operating at 40% of its capacity on Tuesday. A temporary pump was scheduled to be installed on Wednesday and improve capacity even more.
However, the system lacked the necessary water pressure to ensure citywide service. Authorities claimed they were unable to determine how many residences were turned off.
Businesses were severely impacted by the shutdown, and the almost 21,000 pupils in Jackson public schools were obliged to attend courses online, much as they had done during the coronavirus pandemic.
Bottled water was removed off supermarket shelves, and police in a cruiser warned consumers when supplies ran low at one distribution location in a shopping centre parking lot. When they ran out of water, volunteers apologised and asked customers to come back on Wednesday at 5 a.m.
After waiting in line for her allotment of bottled water, Monica Lashay Bass, a mother of three, remarked from her car, “It’s a sad sensation when you don’t have any water, especially when you’ve got newborn babies.”
Jackson residents have long grumbled about their water supply.
The majority of Jackson residents experienced a brief loss of flowing water in February 2021 as a result of two winter storms, and, according to Mississippi Today, the US EPA issued an emergency notice last year warning that the water supply might be contaminated with E. coli.
Customers were informed in 2016 that the city’s water supply contained excessive levels of lead as a result of persistently flawed water treatment methods.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba hailed the state help at a news conference on Tuesday, but his remarks also highlighted a gulf between the Republican state leaders and the Democratic administration of a city with a majority of African-American residents.
The governor said that years of poor city management were to blame for the water treatment plant’s problems, but the mayor charged that the state had not participated in attempts to maintain and modernise the facility.
For the better part of two years, Lumumba stated, “We’ve been working alone.” The state has finally joined us at the table, bringing with them a wealth of useful resources, and we are thrilled to have them there.
Although each side had provided a different story of what had occurred, by Tuesday afternoon they had agreed on most of the key details.
The mayor had claimed that floodwaters infiltrated the treatment facility, changing the chemistry of the water, making the current treatment ineffective, and necessitating a shutdown. The governor, who had earlier attributed the stoppage to pump difficulties, confirmed this on Tuesday.
The city was already under a boil water notice prior to the crisis because of “elevated turbidity levels,” which cause the water to appear hazy.
On Tuesday, the White House announced that President Joe Biden had received a briefing on the matter and that administration representatives were in touch with Lumumba and other state and municipal leaders.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre posted on Twitter that federal agencies were aiding state officials in determining needs and delivering supplies required for emergency repairs.
