Vicksburg Under Siege With No Water!

Bridges at my hometown of Vicksburg, MS, taken by Micheal Quinton. The black bridge with U.S. flag is the old Hwy 80 bridge and railway that is closed to vehicular traffic. The white bridge is I-20 over the Mississippi River. Ameristar Casino and Hotel can be seen as well as Waterview Casino and Hotel to the north of the bridges towards downtown

This past Wednesday a 36-inch line was discovered about 11:00 a.m. when official noticed water pressure was declining, and city employees found the issue was coming from a line buried 10 to 12 feet underground.  When the leak was discovered, plant employees shut off the main valve to prevent contaminants from coming back into the plant and stopped the flow of water. 

The problem is that the underground line is surrounded "by backflow water from the Mississippi River, and have to build a dam, then go in and go down about 12 feet and try to identify the leak and fix it.  It could be five days are more depending on the weather. 

Crews are working around the clock to build the dam and put the plant back online and will take approximately 24 hours before pressure is fully restored.   Good news - - dam was completed yesterday. 

All schools have been closed since Wednesday afternoon until further notice.  The town has literally shut down.  Parts of the city north and east are on different waterlines where the firetrucks can go and get water.  Wednesday night a home was destroyed and another severely damaged next to it in the city limits.  It's like living on pins and needles. 

My hometown of Vicksburg is a historic tourist attraction and has turned into a ghost town with approximately 29,000 residents affected.  The American Queen riverboat is moored today for a half-a-day with it's passengers to tour our town but I'm sure tourist are disappointed that most attractions are closed down.

Help is pouring in from all over the state and seven surrounding states to help out in bringing water to our residents.  When you don't have water you can't bathe, wash clothes, dishes, etc. 

We all have to hang in there and make the best of a bad situation and hopefully soon repairs will be made even with the pending rain that is in the forecast for the weekend. 

If you are reading this post, please keep my hometown of Vicksburg, MS, in your prayers that water will be restored soon without further complications.  Vicksburg under siege again!

FLOOD ALERT:  River Level: 47.09 feet - Change: +0.40 foot - Flood Stage: 43 feet - 5/18/17.