More Jackson residents without water after another complex shut off for nonpayment

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) — For the brief period water was back on at Stratford Terrace on Thursday, Mary Rodgers began filling her tub and buckets.

Residents at the complex have been without water at the Woody Drive townhouses since July 21, except for a brief period on Thursday when residents cut the meter back on and temporarily covered it with concrete.

By mid-Friday morning, the concrete had been moved, and water was again shut off, with tenants there wondering what they’re going to do next.

“I can’t clean up my house. I can’t mop. I can’t take a bath,” she said. “Ask people with water that we know [so we can have] somewhere to take a bath.”

“We shouldn’t have to do that.”

On Thursday, WLBT reported that water at Addison Place had been disconnected this week for nonpayment. The move there impacted at least 70 tenants and their families.

As we were writing that story, we learned service had also been disconnected at Stratford Terrace, impacting another 24 or so families.

Aisha Carson, a spokeswoman with JXN Water, said Stratford was cut off for nonpayment. Carson did not say how much was owed.

She said the utility has been dealing with meter tampering at the site since 2025.

“In cases like this, we typically leave the meter on the property to give owners an opportunity to resolve the outstanding balance. However, if tampering continues alongside nonpayment, we may escalate to full meter removal,” Carson said in an email.

[READ: Water shut off at another Jackson apartment complex for nonpayment]

Hinds County land records show the property is owned by ABC Woody Drive LLC, out of Elmont, New York. The company has owned the property since at least 2024.

An official with ABC Woody Drive confirmed water was turned off, and that it was turned off while the company was in talks with JXN Water about its past-due amount.

That official also said the company never authorized anyone to tamper with the meters.

On Friday, what appeared to be large chunks of concrete were next to the meter box. The meter itself was not running, having been shut off a second time.

Prior to the second disconnect, Rodgers filled her second-floor bathtub, a garbage can, and a cooler with tap water.

She uses the water on the second floor to flush her toilet, scooping it out of the tub with a small saucepan.

Downstairs, she ladles water into a large pot to boil for other uses.

Rodgers said a manager at the property had brought around cases of bottled water for tenants to drink.

“They gave us some in there, but it still isn’t the same,” she said. “You’re going to need more water to bathe and more water do this. And then got babies, and stuff, and they got to take a bath, and their diapers got to be changed.”

“We don’t have to be living like that.”

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