A humanitarian crisis is unfolding here at a major city in America as state of emergency is declared in Jackson, Mississippi. The governor warning the capital with nearly two hundred thousand residents to not drink the water. The national guard has been called in to help get bottle water to those in need. And it’s not just drinking water, low water pressure means people are unable to shower or flush their toilets. The problem at the water treatment plant came after days of heavy rains resulted in a swollen Pearl River. And tonight, one of the most alarming parts of this story, schools are now impacted and officials say they don’t know how long the crisis will last.

Tonight, it is almost every family for themselves in the search for water. There is nothing in the stores and the water giveaway across this city, they are running out. A line stretching as far as the eye can see of people in Jackson, Mississippi tonight waiting for water that’s safe to drink. The irony of it, too much water along Jackson’s Pearl River after a storm contributed to the collapse of the city’s aging water system. Now, there is a state of emergency affecting as many as one hundred eighty thousand people. Emergency screws have been scrambling to get the water treatment plant back online. Floodwaters overran the pumps. Desperate residents now on the hunt for water to drink and cook with. The water system in the state’s largest city has been in crisis for years. Jackson has been under a boil water advisory for a month, and when an entire month without clean water last year.