By Associated Press
Undated, AL – The Drought Monitor survey released Thursday shows almost 43 percent of Alabama is now in the worst drought conditions in the country. That's 5 percent more than last week.
An expert said 90 percent of the state is in the extreme drought category. Rich Tinker wrote this week's survey for the Drought Mitigation Center and said the situation is getting worse for Alabama. He said dry conditions now stretches into western Mississippi, eastern Georgia and southern Tennessee.
Tinker said recent rains did little to help pull the state out of the drought.
Parts of Alabama are now about 20 inches short of normal rainfall for the region. Tinker said it would take that much rain to relieve the drought conditions, but several inches of rain are needed to replenish the missing moisture.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)