Mississippi Turns into the Subsequent ‘Failed State’ because the Water System Enters Third Week of Failure: MSNBC’s Pleasure Reid

The storm crisis in Texas was so severe that the power went out and water and sanitation quickly followed. While Texas has electricity and water and can begin the long, drawn-out process of repairing its homes, Mississippi is still suffering.

Like Texas, Mississippi suffered the same cold snap, and while not losing electricity, they lost water. While most states would struggle to help their people, Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, instead focused on ignoring all COVID-19 safeguards.

Reeves is a Republican against the government but is considering taking over Jackson, Mississippi’s water system, WATP reported last week. “Repairing the water system would cost more than a billion dollars, which would require local, state and federal funding,” the report said. That’s more than six times the city’s annual budget.

The National Guard is currently on the scene, distributing bottled water to Jackson residents who do not have access to clean water.

MSNBC’s Joy Reid said people are likening the Mississippi disaster to Flint, Michigan, where the state poisoned citizens, as The Guardian characterized in a 2018 report.

“Officials cannot provide a precise schedule for when water will be restored everywhere. A quarter of the people in Jackson, Mississippi, a city that is 82 percent black, live in poverty, ”Reid said.

The Daily Beast reported that “the crisis has hit south and west Jackson the hardest, while northeast Jackson, the predominantly white corner of this 80 percent black capital, has remained relatively unscathed.”

Reid noted that they sell shirts that say “Welcome to Boil Water Alert Mississippi” unless it’s not a joke.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba told Reid that the situation was “critical” for residents there.

“As you can imagine, you have residents who do not have the necessities to not only drink, cook and bathe, but we are in the middle of a pandemic which, as you know, demands even more water “The mayor said.” What happened was that the pressure in our distribution system was cut off by the storm. It froze pipes, it froze water coming from the intersection. We don’t have a weathered water treatment plant and years of lack of investment Not just locally, but most importantly state and federal funding that could support this type of infrastructure needs did not do this – it was not a joint effort and it was not seen as a necessity for either company. “

He stated that they had increased the pressure and the system was moving forward, but the only solution “is time”. So water is on the move, but right now the city is still suffering.

Reid noted that it is an age old problem where part of the city is supplied with infrastructure while the black residents are ignored.

“The southern states in particular seem to be one thing where there is a lack of investment in color communities and investment in infrastructure,” she said. “It’s about privatization and profit.”

Laurie Bertram Roberts, co-founder of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund, told Reid that there needs to be a major infrastructure investment at the state and federal levels to solve the problems. Your calling is not unique. Many communities across the country, not just in the south, are struggling with aging water and sanitation infrastructure.

See the interview below:

Before: “It’s Time”: Mississippi Works With Texas To Lift All COVID Restrictions Despite Terrible Job Control Viruses