The city of Jackson, Mississippi is out of water. The city’s treatment plant has failed, and residents are being pumped raw water from its reservoirs which they can neither drink nor brush their teeth with. Around 150,000 residents are affected. Jackson is not some third-world country, nor is it an isolated island like Puerto Rico after a disaster, it is part of mainland USA. What’s happening to residents of Jackson could happen to Americans in any town or city. So what is your plan? Remember, prior planning is what sets you up for success. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Now, anyone who hasn’t planned ahead in Jackson is suffering. Alyssa Lukpat and Cameron McWhirter report in The Wall Street Journal:
The city of Jackson, Miss., which has struggled with a crumbling water infrastructure for years, has no reliable running water, authorities said.
Pumps at the main water-treatment plant in the state’s largest city failed Monday, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said at a press conference, leaving the capital with little to no water—and sometimes raw reservoir water—flowing through the pipes.
The poor-quality water and the low water pressure meant it wasn’t safe for people to drink the water or to brush their teeth with it, state officials said. Instead, officials were working to distribute cases of bottled water to the city’s roughly 150,000 residents.
“It is going to be a massive undertaking,” Mr. Reeves said. He added that it could take three or four months to repair the plant.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, a Democrat, said at a press conference Monday that recent floodwaters had inundated the plant. The facility has released less water to residents in recent days because it was struggling to treat the water.
“It is no secret to any of us—we have a very fragile water-treatment facility,” Mr. Lumumba said.
Mr. Reeves planned to declare a state of emergency over the water crisis, saying the city, which runs the plant, didn’t have enough water to fight fires or flush toilets. The city’s public schools shifted online on Tuesday because of the water shortage.
Mr. Lumumba on Monday declared a water system emergency, and said the shortage is likely to last several days.
Read that last line again. “Several days.” Can you survive with no water for several days? Most people can’t survive without any water for very long. Generally, three days is considered the danger zone, but it really depends on your body, age, etc. But you don’t want to get into a situation where you’re testing out whether or not you’re “better than average” when it comes to how long you can last without water.
Action Line: If you have any doubt about whether or not your family would be safe and comfortable if your town’s water was cut off, download my free special report Emergency Water Storage: How Much, Containers, Purification & More right now. It’s the perfect start for getting your water plan going. Then when you’re ready, download my free addendum report, WATER SECURITY: How to Save Rainwater Effectively. This is a great help if you want to plant a garden and expand your own food security. Tell me how it’s going by clicking here to send me the story of your water survival plan.
