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Winter weather cripples water systems across the Deep South

A line of cars snakes past several city blocks as workers with the Mississippi Rapid Response coalition hand out bottled water to Jackson, Miss., residents on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. People in Mississippi are without running water after winter weather has led to frozen pipes and line breaks, upending the city's already troubled water system. (AP Photo/Michael Goldberg)

Jackson, Miss., residents line up to get water near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Jackson, Miss., Fire Department Lt. Daniel Watkins, right, with Rescue 17, and Lt. Savanna Sanchez, left, with Station 7, load cases of water into cars as Jackson residents line up for the distribution near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Curtis Nichouls of Jackson, Miss., with the Poor Peoples Campaign and Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition, directs Jackson residents to water distribution lines near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Dontavious Spann, left, with the Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition, and volunteer Preston Alston of Jackson, Miss., help to distribute water to Jackson residents near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

A line of cars snakes past several city blocks as workers with the Mississippi Rapid Response coalition hand out bottled water to Jackson, Miss., residents on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. People in Mississippi are without running water after winter weather has led to frozen pipes and line breaks, upending the city's already troubled water system. (AP Photo/Michael Goldberg)

Jackson, Miss., residents line up to get water near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Jackson, Miss., Fire Department Lt. Daniel Watkins, right, with Rescue 17, and Lt. Savanna Sanchez, left, with Station 7, load cases of water into cars as Jackson residents line up for the distribution near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Curtis Nichouls of Jackson, Miss., with the Poor Peoples Campaign and Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition, directs Jackson residents to water distribution lines near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Dontavious Spann, left, with the Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition, and volunteer Preston Alston of Jackson, Miss., help to distribute water to Jackson residents near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

A line of cars snakes past several city blocks as workers with the Mississippi Rapid Response coalition hand out bottled water to Jackson, Miss., residents on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. People in Mississippi are without running water after winter weather has led to frozen pipes and line breaks, upending the city's already troubled water system. (AP Photo/Michael Goldberg)

Jackson, Miss., residents line up to get water near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Jackson, Miss., Fire Department Lt. Daniel Watkins, right, with Rescue 17, and Lt. Savanna Sanchez, left, with Station 7, load cases of water into cars as Jackson residents line up for the distribution near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Curtis Nichouls of Jackson, Miss., with the Poor Peoples Campaign and Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition, directs Jackson residents to water distribution lines near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Dontavious Spann, left, with the Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition, and volunteer Preston Alston of Jackson, Miss., help to distribute water to Jackson residents near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

A line of cars snakes past several city blocks as workers with the Mississippi Rapid Response coalition hand out bottled water to Jackson, Miss., residents on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. People in Mississippi are without running water after winter weather has led to frozen pipes and line breaks, upending the city's already troubled water system. (AP Photo/Michael Goldberg)

Jackson, Miss., residents line up to get water near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Jackson, Miss., Fire Department Lt. Daniel Watkins, right, with Rescue 17, and Lt. Savanna Sanchez, left, with Station 7, load cases of water into cars as Jackson residents line up for the distribution near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Curtis Nichouls of Jackson, Miss., with the Poor Peoples Campaign and Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition, directs Jackson residents to water distribution lines near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

Dontavious Spann, left, with the Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition, and volunteer Preston Alston of Jackson, Miss., help to distribute water to Jackson residents near Northside Drive and Manhattan Road on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. Three days after a hard freeze resulted in broken pipes and low water pressure, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba declared a a local state of emergency. (Barbara Gauntt/The Clarion-Ledger via AP)

FILE - Although the water now flows "just fine" from Charles McCaskill's south Jackson, Miss., home on Sept. 7, 2022, he says he still will not drink it, noting the then-state-issued, boiled-water notice. A cold snap blanketing the Deep South has upended water systems as local officials struggle to repair widespread leaks and broken pipes, forcing some people to take drastic measures to get by without reliable access to running water. The water woes are acute in places with already troubled water systems like Jackson, Miss., where some people have been without running water for days. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

FILE - Jackson, Miss., Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba speaks with reporters about the efforts underway to deliver a sustainable water system for Jackson, Miss., residents following a roundtable discussion with community leaders and residents, Nov. 15, 2022, at Jackson State University. A cold snap blanketing the Deep South has upended water systems as local officials struggle to repair widespread leaks and broken pipes, forcing some people to take drastic measures to get by without reliable access to running water. Officials have encouraged people across the South to drip faucets during the prolonged cold snap because water moving through pipes is less likely to freeze. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

FILE - This aerial view shows the city of Jackson's O.B. Curtis Water Plant in Ridgeland, Miss., Sept. 1, 2022. A cold snap blanketing the Deep South has upended water systems as local officials struggle to repair widespread leaks and broken pipes, forcing some people to take drastic measures to get by without reliable access to running water. Officials have encouraged people across the South to drip faucets during the prolonged cold snap because water moving through pipes is less likely to freeze. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)

Winter weather cripples water systems across the Deep South