Water crisis continues in Mississippi, weeks after cold snap

Mississippi Army National Guard Sgt. Chase Toussaint, right, and Staff Sgt. Matthew Riley, both with the Maneuver Area Training Equipment Site of Camp Shelby, fill 5-gallon water drums with non-potable water, March 1, 2021, at a Jackson, Miss., water distribution site on the New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church parking lot. [Photo: AP/Rogelio V. Solis]

Mississippi Army National Guard Sgt. Chase Toussaint with the Maneuver Area Training Equipment Site of Camp Shelby, right, fills 5-gallon buckets with non-potable water, March 1, 2021, at a Jackson, Miss., water distribution site on the New Mt. [Photo: AP/Rogelio V. Solis]

Diego Garcia, 9, carries drinking water he was given by volunteers at an apartment complex without water in Dallas, Feb. 23, 2021. [Photo: AP/LM Otero]

Madonna Manor maintenance supervisor Lamar Jackson left, stacks bottled water brought by Mac Epps of Mississippi Move, as part of the supply efforts by city councilman and State Rep. De'Keither Stamps to a senior residence in west Jackson, Miss., Feb. 22, 2021. [Photo: AP/Rogelio V. Solis]

Mississippi’s largest city is still struggling with water problems more than two weeks after winter storms and freezing weather ravaged the system in Jackson, knocking out water for drinking and making it impossible for many to even flush their toilets.

Residents in the city of 160,000 are still being warned to boil any water that does come out of the faucets.

“I pray it comes back on,” Jackson resident Nita Smith said. “I’m not sure how much more of this we can take.”

Smith has had no water at home for nearly three weeks.

Smith is concerned about her mother who has diabetes. Her mother and most of the other older people on her street don’t drive, so Smith has been helping them get water to clean themselves and flush their toilets.

A key focus of city crews is filling the system's water tanks to an optimal level. But, public works director Charles Williams said Wednesday that fish, tree limbs and other debris have clogged screens where water moves from a reservoir into a treatment plant. That caused pressure to drop for the entire water system.

“Today was not a good day for us,” Williams said.

He said about a fourth of Jackson's customers remained without running water. That is more than 10,000 connections, with most serving multiple people.

City officials on Wednesday continued distributing water for flushing toilets at several pick-up points. But they're giving no specific timeline for resolving problems. Workers continue to fix dozens of water main breaks and leaks.

The crisis has taken a toll on businesses. Jeff Good is co-owner of three Jackson restaurants, and two of them remained closed Wednesday. In a Facebook update, Good said the businesses have insurance, but he’s concerned about his employees.

“We will not be financially ruined,” Good wrote. “The spirits of our team members are my biggest concern. A true malaise and depression is setting in."

Mississippi's capital city is not alone in water problems. More than two weeks have passed since the cold wave shut down the main power grid in Texas, leaving millions in freezing homes, causing about 50 deaths and disabling thousands of public water systems serving those millions.

Four public water systems in Texas remained out of commission Wednesday, affecting 456 customers, and 225 systems still have 135,299 customers boiling their tap water, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Also, 208 of the state’s 254 counties are still reporting public water system issues.