Most residents in Jackson now have running water in their homes but they remain under a boil notice. For more than one month it has become routine for many to buy packs of bottled water each week costing between 20 to 100 dollars. Several groups have volunteered to distribute water, and the state also launched seven major distribution sites last week. During a press conference on September 2nd, Governor Tate Reeves said these sites are open every day from 9:00 am to 6:30 pm.
Governor Reeves said “If you have questions or you need help accessing these resources, and we’ve had several hundred people over the last 24 hours to this number, MEMA’s call center is open from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm seven days a week.”
Crews are continuing to work at the O B Curtis water treatment plant to get equipment back online, and over the weekend water pressure surpassed the baseline goals set by engineers. Following a visit to the water facility last week, Fema Administrator Deanne Criswell said they are continuing to assess the needs of the city and its residents.
“Fema’s mission at this time is to support our state and our local partners to help meet these immediate needs for the residents of Jackson, Mississippi,” said Criswell. “And specifically, what we want to do is make sure they have safe drinking water, so we will continue to support those efforts of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency as they bring in bottled water to these impacted residents.”
On Saturday an ammonia leak was detected at the water treatment plant, and crews used a propane burner to ensure the combustible gas did not pose a danger to nearby residents.
