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The burden of Jackson’s latest water crisis has fallen on the shoulders of this city’s youngest and most vulnerable residents.
The capital city is without a reliable water supply because of flooding, and it’s not clear when residents will be able to expect safe running water.
Lorene Terrell, 59, could only shake her head Tuesday at the sight of her 11-year-old granddaughter struggling to carry home bottled water, during a time when she otherwise would have been in a classroom.
Schools in Jackson, Mississippi’s capital and largest city, have shifted to virtual learning in light of the crisis.
“They need to be at school, instead of here with me because they’re just playing,” Terrell said, as her granddaughter and grandson, 5, swapped their schools books for firsthand lessons about failed infrastructure.
Terrell can’t grasp how she pays a monthly water bill only to be plagued by constant disruptions.
“It shouldn’t be like this,” she said.
At Jackson’s only Walmart, Namiah Thomas, scanned the thinning options of bottled water on the shelves.
Much of what remained was flavored or sparkling. Jackson had been under a boiled water notice for a month when Monday’s state of emergency was announced, further straining supplies.
Thomas said she initially lost water pressure in her West Jackson neighborhood Monday, but that the flow has since improved.
The restoration gave her little confidence. She suspected the brown water coming out of her faucets Tuesday morning was contaminated.
“If you fill up your tub and your tub’s white, you’d be able to see the actual color of the water,” she said of the water coming out of the spout.
