Just a week into the start of the school year in Mississippi’s capital, students faced a crisis that is canceling all classes and forcing them online, but this time it wasn’t Covid-19.
Hundreds of students at Jackson State University, a historically black university, moved into their dorms on Aug. 18 as they settled in for the new year, but many have already returned home, while others are being forced to make difficult adjustments on campus because of the city’s ongoing water crisis.
Jackson has been without reliable tap water service since Monday, when torrential rains and flash flooding prompted an already damaged water treatment plant to begin failing. About 150,000 residents are forced to buy water or rely on an inefficient system of bottled water catchment areas for drinking, cooking and brushing teeth as businesses and schools were closed.
“It’s like we’re living in a nightmare right now,” said Erin Washington, 19, a sophomore. “We can’t use the showers, the toilets don’t flush,” he said.
Washington said the campus already had low water pressure and toilets would not flush Sunday, and the next day, students had no access to running water. On Tuesday, the water turned on for a “split second” but was brown and muddy, he added.
On Wednesday, the water supply stopped completely, which Washington said was the “last straw” for her. He booked a flight back to Chicago this afternoon and is waiting to hear from university officials about whether they will return to in-person classes next week.
The university’s head football coach, Deion Sanders, also said his football program is in “crisis mode.”
University officials scrambled to make supplies for the 2,000 students who live on campus as they continue to experience low water pressure, university President Thomas K. Hudson told CNN on Friday.
The university switched to virtual learning on Monday, a familiar change for many students whose in-person classes were canceled and moved online in 2020 to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. School officials are monitoring water pressure “with the hope of resuming in-person classes next week,” Hudson said.
Rented portable showers and toilets have been set up across campus and water is delivered to students, Hudson said.
Hudson told CNN earlier this week Jackson County has a potable water supply it maintains for emergencies. The university also brings clean water to keep the chillers running for air conditioning in the dormitories, he added.
“It’s their frustration that worries me,” Hudson said. “It’s the fact that it interrupts their learning. So what we’re trying to do is really focus on how we can best meet their needs.”
The water system in Jackson has been problematic for years, and the city had already been under a boil alert since late July. Advocates have pointed to systemic and environmental racism among the causes of Jackson’s ongoing water problems and a lack of resources to address them. About 82.5% of Jackson’s population identifies as Black or African American, according to census data.
The main pumps at Jackson’s main OB Curtis water treatment plant in late July were severely damaged, forcing the facility to operate with smaller backup pumps, Gov. Tate Reeves said this week, without specifying the damage, which officials also city they have not mentioned in detail.
The city announced on August 9 that the problematic pumps were taken offline. Then last week, heavy rains pushed the Pearl River to overflow, cresting Monday and flooding some Jackson streets, while also affecting intake water in a reservoir that feeds the drinking water treatment plant.
Jim Craig, senior deputy and director of health protection at the Mississippi Department of Health, said a chemical imbalance developed on the conventional treatment side of the plant, which affected particulate removal, causing a temporary shutdown of one side of the plant and resulting in loss of water distribution pressure.
A temporary rented pump was installed Wednesday at the plant and “significant” gains were made through Thursday, the city said, with workers making “a number of equipment repairs and adjustments.”
However, it remains unclear when drinking water will flow to the city’s residents again. On Thursday, people in Jackson were advised to shower with their mouths closed.
Hudson said the university receives “an overwhelming amount of support from organizations and individuals who contribute drinking water, bottled water and monetary donations through our Gap Fund,” which provides financial support to students for emergency expenses.
“We will continue to work with the City of Jackson for updates on their progress in restarting the water treatment facility. In the meantime, the university will remain open to accommodate our resident students during this holiday weekend as needed,” he said, referring to the Labor Day weekend.
City officials said Saturday most of the city’s water pressure is being restored, but a boil water advisory remains in effect and pressure is expected to continue to fluctuate as repairs continue. The city said workers are repairing automated systems to support better water quality and production.
Trenity Usher, 20, a junior at Jackson State, said she thought this year would be her first “normal year” on campus before the water crisis wreaked havoc on the city.
Usher’s freshman year began in 2020, when Covid-19 prompted universities across the country to move classes online. Usher was one of the few freshmen who decided to live on campus, he said. During her second semester, in February 2021, a winter storm froze and burst pipes, leaving many townspeople and students without water for at least a month.
Unlike Washington who was able to go home to Chicago, Usher has to stay on campus because she is in the school band.
Usher moved into her dorm on August 19, and even then, she said water was a problem. “The tap water was thin,” he said.
“A lot of people are packing up and leaving, the parking lots are empty.” He said. Had she not been asked to stay, Usher says she probably would have made the trip home to Atlanta.
“We practice six to seven hours a day, and then how are we going to shower?” Usher said. She also has an emotional support bunny who needs to make sure she has plenty of water, in addition to herself.
Usher said she had to throw water bottles into her trash can to shower outside because of the water pressure problem on campus, a situation she described as “horrific.”
Jaylyn Clarke, 18, a freshman, had been on campus for a week before the flooding. He took the opportunity to explore the campus and meet new people. Clarke looked forward to the experience of attending a historically Black university and enjoyed the perks of staying close to home, which is only three hours away in New Orleans.
Clarke started seeing river flood warnings last Thursday, which made her nervous about the possibility of nearby roads flooding and being trapped on campus.
“Basically, we couldn’t wash our clothes because of low water pressure, the showers and toilets weren’t working well, and it even affected the AC,” he said, adding that the water was brown and smelled like sewage.
Clarke eventually decided to go home to New Orleans on Aug. 30 to shower, do laundry and take online classes until the problem was resolved.
“I go with the flow because I love Jackson State, but this water issue is like a rain cloud, like a shadow cast over it.”
