THEHOOFBEAT
20Degree Weather and Waist-Deep Water
Ariana Polk Reporter
By Kaitlyn Fowler Junior 'PEANUT BRI T T L E' PI PES
L ynne Schneider Advisor
Snow days are a student?s best friend: a day of relaxation, snowball fights, building snowmen, and making snow angels. L ike most things, however, snow days are only fun and beneficial in moderation. After two weeks off of school for winter break, the students of the Jackson Public Schools District did not need another day at home. T hey definitely didn?t need another two weeks at home. Sometimes events are inevitable.
Jacksonisnot anewcity,andit does not havenewpipes. I t is usually not hit with below-freezing temperatures for more than a day at a time. W hen 2018 dawned in Jackson, MS, it brought temperatures in the teens and single-digit windshields. As temperatures dropped, water froze in the pipes, and pipes began to break. Between January 1 and January 14, the city saw 156 water main breaks. L arge areas of the city had little or no water pressure, and the whole city was placed on a boiled water notice. T he Jackson Public Schools District was scheduled to resume classes on January 8; at this point in time, 70% of the Jackson schools had unreliable and nonexistent water pressure. I n addition to needing water for things such as flushing toilets, many of the schools have heating systems that depend on water. T he average price for the rental of one (1) porta potty for one (1) day is $125-175. T he price for enough porta-potties for enough students at all of the affected schools would be through the roof. T his would not include the price for water tanks that might need to be called in for heaters. Food services would not have the ability to cook, and would have to serve sack lunches until the water mains were fixed. As each day of what was supposed to be the first week back at school passed, JPS was required to cancel school for the next day.
By the end of the weekend, enough pipes were fixed for accommodations to be made for the few schools with no water, and JPS was given the all-clear to resume school the day after Dr. Martin L uther King Jr. Day. T he Madison County School District donated water to the south Jackson schools that were still lacking water. T hen, of course, a severe winter weather advisory was placed on the state, predicting snow and dangerous road conditions. JPS, following the example of most other districts in the state, canceled school for both T uesday and Wednesday. T uesday?s snow still littered the ground in shady areas when students returned to school on T hursday. T he temperature did not stay that low for too much longer; Friday morning, a significant number of water main breakages occurred as the temperature warmed up, leaving 60% of the Jackson schools without water, again. T he schools closed in an emergency 60% day. As of 1:30 p.m. on that Friday, the city had experienced 210 confirmed water breaks, many of which had been fixed or were currently being repaired. Mayor L umumba explained in a press conference on Friday that
thecity?s?peanut brittle?pipesare ?over a100-years-old... theydon?t consult withusbeforetheydecideto break.? T he past two weeks have shown lower temperatures in Jackson than in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Anchorage, Alaska. New York and cities such as Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Baltimore and New Orleans are seeing infrastructure issues caused by old pipes and cold weather similar to what Jackson is facing. Jackson City Councilman Banks reassures the city?s citizens, saying, ?T his is not the T itanic. Jackson?s not going down.?