‘Do not drink the water’: Jackson water facility fails after flooding in Mississippi

Mississippi capital says complications with water linked to recent flooding, leading to emergency distribution of bottled water

Mississippi's capital, Jackson, will go without reliable drinking water indefinitely, officials said, after pumps at the main water treatment plant failed on Monday, leading to the emergency distribution of bottled water and tanker trucks for 180,000 people.

The city linked the failure to complications from the flooding of the Pearl River, but Mississippi's governor, Tate Reeves, who declared a state of emergency, said the cause was unknown and that the city-run water treatment plant had been poorly operated and understaffed for years.