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Disastrous Drought
10/10/2002
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook. This summer parts of the Southeast have been
facing a drought as serious as the one out west. Three quarters of the counties in North
Carolina have been declared federal disaster areas and the state has suffered more than 170
million dollars in crop losses. Leda Hartman reports.
The hardest hit part of North Carolina is the central Piedmont which has received only half to
two-thirds of it's normal rainfall. Chatham County Manager, Charlie Horn says he's never seen
conditions like this in the 25 years he's worked in government.
CH: In the past, while we've had stretches of dry weather, there was always some sense that
there's relief coming. But, at this point about the only thing that we could hope for to help
us break that is some sort of a hurricane and you know that's not a very pleasant thought
either. So, it's bad.
Chatham County has cut back on its water use from nearby Jordan Lake. It has also imposed
mandatory water conservation measures. At this stage residents are only allowed to water their
lawns and gardens only on alternate days during restricted hours. Horn says that if the
drought progresses in the next week or two the county may forbid outside watering altogether.
CH: So, some peoples gardens may dry, some peoples yards may dry, but for the life of the lake
and our water system, you've got to do it.
The long term outlook isn't encouraging. Horn says the Army Corp of Engineers expects the dry
conditions to last into December. In Pittsboro, North Carolina I'm Leda Hartman for The
Weather Notebook.
The Weather Notebook is generously supported by Subaru of America and The National Science
Foundation. Thanks today to our assistant producer, Doug Sanborn.
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