Much of Jackson to be without running water indefinitely – National & International News – TUE 30Aug2022

Much of Jackson to be without water indefinitely. More than 40% of Americans believe civil war ‘likely’ within a decade. Monsoon floods leave 1/3 of Pakistan under water.

NATIONAL NEWS

Much of Jackson to be without water indefinitely

Water pumps at Jackson’s O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant have suffered a catastrophic failure, leaving much of the city of 160,000 without reliable drinking water. Gov. Reeves announced a state of emergency and a mobilization to deliver both drinkable and non-drinkable water to residents. For the time being, residents do not have reliable water pressure to shower or flush toilets. Officials have warned residents not to drink any water coming out of the taps as it is untreated.

No one can say for sure when reliable water service will be restored. Engineers are looking at the treatment plant equipment today to see if they can restore it to working order.

The announcement about the water shortage followed heavy rains that flooded much of the Pearl River over the weekend. But Jackson and much of its surrounding area have already been under a boil water notice for weeks. Decades of neglect and a lack of investment by both state and city officials have left much of the city’s water infrastructure sorely inadequate.

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Related: Why Jackson’s water system is broken (opens in new tab).

More than 40% of Americans believe civil war is likely within a decade

A YouGov/Economist poll found that 43% of Americans believe that civil war is likely to break out in the country with the next decade. Along party lines, 40% of both Democrats and Independents believe civil war is at least somewhat likely. That figure jumps to 54% among self-described “strong” Republicans.

Most Americans (65%) also agree that political violence has become more prevalent since 2021 while 62% believed it would increase in the coming years. 

Following the recent FBI raid at the Florida home of former President Trump, several Trump loyalists in the Republican party have used heated rhetoric to stir up their base. One of these was Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who threatened “riots in the streets” if the Justice Department indicted Trump for stealing and refusing to return highly classified documents. Graham is currently fighting a subpoena to testify before a grand jury in Georgia about his role in Trump’s attempt to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.

Across various polls, more than half of Americans think Trump should face charges for the violent insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. There’s not yet been any polling on whether he should face charges for misappropriating and mishandling the classified documents.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Floods in Pakistan: More than 1/3 of country under water

Since monsoon season began in June, flooding has claimed over 1100 lives in Pakistan and nearly 200 in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan’s climate minister Sherry Rehman says,”It’s all one big ocean; there’s no dry land to pump the water out”. Rehman said the catastrophic flooding follows the heaviest rainy season Pakistan has seen in a decade. “Literally, one-third of Pakistan is underwater right now,” Rehman said, “which has exceeded every boundary, every norm we’ve seen in the past”.

The waters have washed away roads, homes, businesses, crops and even entire villages. At least 33 million Pakistanis have been affected and about half a million displaced. The government is still assessing damage as many of the worst affected areas are difficult to reach. However, Pakistani ministers have offered a preliminary damage estimate in excess of $10 billion. The UN is seeking $160 million in emergency aid.

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