Drought relief approaches from the East

Raleigh, N.C. — The drought that has gripped the state since last spring is loosening its hold on many counties, according to the latest weekly report by Drought Management Advisory Council, released Thursday.

Although a majority of counties were still experiencing some form of drought conditions, 23 had escaped from under the drought – including six that have returned to normal.

The council reported that six coastal counties – Pamlico, Hyde, Dare, Carteret, Tyrrell and Washington – have normal conditions again.

Abnormally dry conditions persisted over much of eastern North Carolina, including Robeson, Bladen, Duplin, Lenoir and Onslow counties.

Wake, Durham and Orange counties stayed in the severe drought category, but moderate conditions were creeping closer from the east. Cumberland, Edgecombe, Franklin, Wayne and Wilson counties were all placed in the moderate category.

A total of 29 counties had moderate drought conditions, and 37 had severe drought conditions.

Extreme drought conditions continued in a pocket of 11 counties around Charlotte.

At the beginning of April, 45 counties were experiencing extreme drought conditions.

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"We started the year with a 7.5-8" deficit left over from last year, so we are still down an inch or so for this year."

But we started 2007 with surplus rainfall from the year before, but they conveniently don't talk about that.

SheriffTruman
April 25, 2008 2:40 p.m.

((((( So go ahead, Raleigh, lift your restrictions and go back to washing your cars, etc. In 4-5 months, they'll be back. )))))

Tom Morrow, your story makes no sense. Sure, if you bake dirt, and try to pour a bunch of water on it, the lower depth will stay dry. But what does that have to do with the price of eggs in China? The depths of the lakes were never dry, and there's no evidence whatsoever that the areas that did dry dried to any great depth. And now the lake's been full for what, a couple of weeks? That should be more than enough time for any dried ground to be replenished.

As for a lack of understanding, I'm wondering if you (and some others) truly understand that a lack of rain led to the drought? Area people's arms would fall off if they tried to wash their cars enough to put a dent in the water supply during normal weather conditions.

DrJ
April 24, 2008 8:46 p.m.

Hey! Has anyone ever considered a Man-Made River Walk. Nah...that's just too out there!

OhYea
April 24, 2008 5:26 p.m.

I think if things were so dry maybe they should have closed two lanes of every public swimming pool!!

mrtwinturbo
April 24, 2008 5:26 p.m.

You all have no idea how the water cycle works, do you? Sure, Falls Field has filled back up because of all the rain we've received lately. But how much of that rain has gone down into the water table? You know, the place where water is pumped for all those NOT getting it out of a lake somewhere.

Getting a tropical storm doesn't help drought problems all that much. Dumping 11 inches of water on an area in 24-48 hours does not replenish the water table. It replenishes your lake though, so as far as you're concerned "there is no drought". Try this experiment: find a pot, fill it with dirt, put it in the oven so it gets good and dried out. Then dump a bucket of water onto it. Feel down past the first centimeter of dirt and see how moist it is. That's essentially the same thing as a tropical storm -- the water runs off but doesn't soak in.

So go ahead, Raleigh, lift your restrictions and go back to washing your cars, etc. In 4-5 months, they'll be back.

Tom Morrow
April 24, 2008 5:20 p.m.

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Drought relief approaches from the East

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