No Safe Drinking Water: Crisis in Mississippi's capital | LiveNOW from FOX

A failure of a main water treatment plant in the wake of severe flooding last week has left much of the entire town of Jackson, Mississippi without reliable drinking water. Major flooding on the Pearl River from recent torrential rains severely damaged the town's main treatment plant, creating water pressure issues and leaving the plant unable to supply the city. "It means the city cannot produce enough water to fight fires, to reliably flush toilets, and to meet other critical needs," said Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves. Both Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and Gov. Reeves have declared a state of emergency in Jackson and mobilized local and state resources – including activating the National Guard – to meet the challenge of now providing water to the city's 180,000 residents. Jackson has been under a boil water notice for weeks, but the recent flooding and torrential rain made issues at the water treatment facility worse with low water pressure and inadequate treatment to clean the water. "Until it is fixed, it means we do not have reliable running water at scale," Reeves said. Officials are scrambling to provide distribution stations where residents can now get both drinking water and non-drinking water. Reeves said water is already being provided for firefighting emergencies. In the meantime, with the treatment plant down, officials are urging residents not to drink any water that still comes from the tap.`