JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) -Back in February of last year, the city’s infrastructure took a one-two punch thanks to the icy conditions and wintry mix that slammed Jackson.
It resulted in multiple water main breaks, and many residents had no running water in their homes for at least three weeks.
City officials say anytime there is heavy rain and temperatures drop, they are on high alert, especially after dealing with a water crisis last year.
That’s why the city is preparing now, and they want residents to do the same.
Dr. Charles Williams admits frigid temps could cause some disruptions and water main breaks.
He does not expect what happened in February to happen over the next few days for several reasons.
“Just a quick burst of cold weather is not going to drop the ground temperature that quick. It would have to be the next for 5 or 6 days where the ground temperature would see a dramatic drop, so that’s a positive. Another good thing is that the reservoir, the temperature in the reservoir has dropped dramatically. We still have some warmer temperatures at the reservoir where we take majority, well, all of our water at O. B. Curtis, so that’s a good thing. And none of those I just woke up to play a role in a large outage that we had in February. Obviously too. we won’t have the snow and ice that contribute to it also.”
City officials and public works will be on standby for any water main breaks.
They are also asking residents to wrap exposed pipes.
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