Jackson Needs to Plan for Next Water Crisis and Other Expected Disasters
You can flush a toilet again in Jackson this week as the City has emerged from last week’s water crisis caused by freezing temperatures and bad pipes. The talk has now shifted to the City’s decaying infrastructure and what should be done to prevent the next water crisis. Being skeptical of the City’s ability to replace the existing water system, I would rather see Jackson planning for the next disaster.
There was a needless delay in getting water restored last week because Mayor Johnson decided to go at it alone for a couple of days before getting help from other area municipalities. That shouldn’t happen next time the pipes break. Jackson should have an agreement with other area municipalities where the cities agree to send in crews when one city is overwhelmed by breaks, such as happened to Jackson last week.
Next, leaders of Jackson and other area cities should plan for other disasters that will happen sooner or later. Will will see a bad tornado in Central Mississippi in the next 30 years. Wherever it hits the local government will need help. Why not make plans for that contingency now? The same goes for floods (Jackson is over-due for one), ice storms, etc…
Time is of the essence in a time of crisis, and just having a list with the phone numbers for everyone to call for help will save time. In addition, it will help to have help quickly on the way from other cities who were not hit by the disaster.
Jackson may not be able to fix the bad water pipes, but it can learn from the water crisis how to better deal with the next crisis.
