Jackson, Mississippi, has been flooded by heavy rain, but its residents have no potable running water, and not enough water pressure to fight fires or even flush toilets. This is not the first time the state’s predominantly Black capital city has lacked safe drinking water after a storm — much of the city was without potable water for a month in early 2021. The white governor, Republican Tate Reeves, has activated the state’s National Guard but had not, as of Tuesday, sought federal assistance to provide drinking water.
The heat index in Jackson hit 103°F on Tuesday. Climate change, mainly caused by the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels, is making extreme precipitation events, and the flooding they cause, worse and more likely. It’s also supercharging wildfires. Nearly 900 miles west of Jackson, contamination from the Calf Canyon and Hermits Peak Fires has left Las Vegas, New Mexico with less than 20 days of clean water. (Jackson: Black Wall Street Times, AP, Axios, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, AP, Axios, Democracy Now; Las Vegas: Gizmodo, The Hill; Climate Signals background: Extreme precipitation increase, Flooding, Wildfires)