Flooding along the Pearl River has left most people in Jackson, Mississippi, without access to drinking water, so Amazon’s Disaster Relief team is sending 326,000 bottles of drinkable water to affected communities.
The water crisis, which is affecting a vast majority of Mississippi’s capital city, has also caused a lack of water pressure necessary to brush teeth, flush toilets, and run some air conditioning systems. The City of Jackson declared a water system emergency on August 29, and officials estimate that clean tap water won’t be available for at least three weeks.
Amazon used its logistics and delivery expertise to quickly secure bottles of water for Jackson residents. On September 3, just four days after the city’s emergency declaration, Amazon will hold its first water distribution event, with the goal of handing out 72,000 bottles of water. Amazon will also provide 72 pallets of water to support the Jackson School District’s 54 school sites.
“Our top priority is getting drinking water to the people who are most affected by this crisis. Amazon is in close contact with those leading the relief efforts on the ground, and we are mobilizing our resources, technology, and infrastructure to help,” said Cristal Cole, Amazon’s regional policy lead for the Southeast.
Amazon is also working with local partners to deliver 1,000 snap-on water filtration systems to the homes of Jackson’s seniors and disabled residents. The filters can provide more than 10,000 liters of clean, safe drinking water.
Since 2017, Amazon’s disaster relief and response efforts have distributed more than 18.3 million items in response to 82 natural disaster and humanitarian aid crises in the U.S. and abroad.
