The stark warnings coming out of Mississippi have revealed a dire and desperate situation in which hundreds of thousands remain unsure about the safety of their water consumption.
As Governor Tate Reeves urged the residents of Jackson to avoid drinking tap water, other officials are cautioning them about how to go about their day-to-day routine amid the city's water crisis.
On Tuesday, Jim Craig, the director of health protection for the Mississippi State Department of Health, said that while it is still safe to bathe in the water coming from the city's water treatment plant, "don't open your mouth while you're in the shower."
More than 150,000 people in the state capital were left without clean water this week after the largest plant in Jackson, which has been on the brink of collapse for years, failed due to torrential downpour that caused the Pearl River to flood.
Officials have scrambled to restore access to safe drinking water, trying to distribute bottled water to hundreds of thousands until a rented emergency pump is running Wednesday, but there has been no timeline for when regular service will return.
On Tuesday, Reeves said while the situation hasn't "significantly" worsened from the day before, it's "not significantly better" either.
Craig reiterated that people should not be consuming the water without boiling it first. His department recommends a rolling boil of at least one minute. He also warned parents with infants and those with compromised immune systems to be extra careful about not drinking unboiled water.
"Do not drink the water," Reeves echoed. "To be clear, do not drink the water at this time."
Disruptions to water service are not uncommon for Jackson residents, who have frequently faced boil-water notices.
Last month, the state health department issued a notice for all surface water connections, saying there was an increased chance the water might contain disease-causing organisms. In February of 2021, a winter storm that froze some of the city's water pipes left residents without water and "no definitive timeline" on when the problem would be fixed.
"We've been going it alone for the better part of two years," Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba said at his own Tuesday briefing. "We are in a constant state of emergency."
On Monday, Reeves said he would declare a state of emergency and activate the Mississippi National Guard as part of his efforts to "do everything in our power to restore water pressure and get water flowing back to the people of Jackson." The White House announced late Tuesday that President Joe Biden had approved the governor's request.
Biden authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate disaster relief efforts for 90 days.
"FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency," the White House said in a statement.
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Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
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