A drought that threatened crops and helped spark wildfires in the Southeast has receded across most of the region.
A federal report released Thursday shows only tiny portions of Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina are still too dry after weeks of regular rainfall. But conditions are worse in Georgia and Louisiana, where about 1.4 million people are still experiencing drought conditions. That includes part of metro Atlanta.
A fast-developing “flash drought” choked the region earlier this fall. At one point nearly 56 million people in 16 Southern states were living in drought conditions.