Mississippi capital under water emergency in flooding fallout

More than 150,000 people in Jackson, Miss., will lose running water after torrential rain and flooding caused damage at the capital city’s main water treatment facility.

Gov. Tate Reeves announced a state of emergency late Monday night, warning residents to conserve as much water as possible as the supply begins to run out, causing low pressure in sinks, showers and toilets.

There will also not be enough water on hand to fight fires, Reeves cautioned.

The National Guard has been called in to help the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency distribute bottled water for drinking and non-potable water, which can be used for toilets and cleaning, but not consumption.

An SUV rests in flood waters in this northeast Jackson, Miss., neighborhood. (Rogelio V. Solis/)

“Please, stay safe. Do not drink the water,” Reeves said at a press conference. “In too many cases, it is raw water from the reservoir being pushed through the pipes. Be smart. Protect yourself. Protect your family.”

Jackson Public Schools have already shifted to virtual learning Tuesday.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba stressed that the city was not turning off water.

The water shortage is expected to last “the next couple of days,” Lumumba said in a statement Monday night.

Hinds County Emergency Management Operations deputy director Tracy Funches, right, and operations coordinator Luke Chennault, wade through flood waters in northeast Jackson. (Rogelio V. Solis/)

While flooding through Jackson was not as bad as expected, the overflow was still enough to damage the already precarious water system.

“Far too small number of heroic front-line workers were trying their hardest to hold the system together, but it was a near impossibility,” Reeves said Monday.

Jackson had already been on a boil notice for a month as the main pumps at the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant began failing.