A state of emergency was declared on Tuesday by Gov. Tate Reeves and it was announced public schools would shift their classes online.
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba spoke with"ABC News Prime" about the roots of this water crisis, which have been unfolding over multiple years, how the city plans to recover with a focus on equity and sustainability, and how people tuning in can help.Joining me now is the mayor of Jackson, Chokwe Lumumba. Mayor, first off, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us during such a challenging time for you.
And so we've been saying that it's not a matter of if our systems would fail, but when our systems fail, and we've seen it far too frequently. So we've talked with the State Department of Health and MEMA, who have assured us that they're going to have boots on the ground to help supplement our staffing needs and the critical repairs.
Yeah. This is due to decades, decades and decades, of possibly 30 years or more of deferred maintenance, a lack of capital improvements made to the system, a lack of a human capital, a workforce plan that accounted for the challenges that our water treatment facility suffers from. We've had hotter summers, colder winters and more precipitation each year. And it's taking a toll on our infrastructure.
But more precisely, inequitably, we suffer in the southern portion of our city most disproportionately. And so it's something that, we not only need to create sustainability but equity, realizing that some of the most impoverished parts of our city are feeling the brunt of this challenge more consistently and worse off than the rest of our city.