By Associated Press - Wednesday, February 22, 2017

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Hinds County officials have declared a state of emergency, warning that some Jackson residents could be without water for about three days next month.

The County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to declare the emergency as officials look to address major water line damage in south Jackson, news outlets reported.

Ricky Moore, the county’s emergency operations center director, said he’s been told the water would be shut off tentatively March 11 for an estimated three days while the repairs take place.

The city of Jackson has not chosen an outage date, the city later said in a news release Tuesday.

“You have to plan for the circumstances you’re getting,” Moore said. “We hope no one’s without water. We hope everything goes well. But we’ll be ready if it doesn’t.”

An emergency declaration would allow the county to request help from the state in the event of an extended water outage. The county administrator would also be given the authority to buy $10,000 worth of bottled water. The declaration will be sent to the governor through the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

Jackson city officials said they have not considered requesting state funds.

“We welcome the collaboration with the county and any assistance being offered,” city spokeswoman Shelia Byrd said in a statement. “The outage will impact a sizable area of the city and we want to ensure the public has ample notice to prepare for the outage.”

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