United States | High and dry

A water crisis in Mississippi’s capital is a harbinger of worse

Jackson’s residents have been without drinking water since August 29th

Volunteers carry bottles of drinking water at a water distribution site as the city of Jackson is to go without reliable drinking water indefinitely after the water treatment plant pumps failed, leading to the emergency distribution of bottled water and tanker trucks for 180,000 people, in Jackson, Mississippi, U.S., September 2, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria
|Jackson

A line of cars snakes around the Metrocenter, an abandoned mall in Jackson, Mississippi’s capital and its largest city. The car park has weeds a foot high and potholes twice as wide. But it has recently come to life again, as one of seven temporary distribution sites handing out cases of bottled water to Jackson’s 150,000 residents. Clean tap water stopped flowing into their homes over a week ago.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “High and dry”

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