Dec 29 (Reuters) – Residents of Mississippi’s capital are ending the year unable to count on clean running water in their homes after a freezing winter storm brought a fresh crisis to Jackson’s beleaguered water infrastructure.
Residents of the majority-Black city say their main water treatment plant has been poorly maintained and funded for years. In August, its pumps failed entirely, overwhelmed by historic flooding along the Pearl River, cutting off running water entirely for Jackson’s 150,000 residents and about 30,000 people in the surrounding area.
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The huge winter storm that caused chaos across the United States in the days before Christmas and killed more than 30 people in upstate New York brought unusually frigid weather to the Deep South. Other Southern cities unaccustomed to freezing weather were grappling with similar water issues, including Atlanta; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Selma, Alabama.
