Drought is rapidly worsening and spreading throughout the region

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – The ongoing drought in the Carolinas continues to rapidly worsen and spread.

According to the latest update from the U.S. Drought Monitor, moderate to severe drought conditions continue to rapidly worsen across much of South Carolina, including the Grand Strand and Pee Dee.

As of the last week of June, 41% of South Carolina was in moderate drought and only 0.48% of the state was in severe drought.

In today’s update, the percentage of South Carolina experiencing moderate drought has increased to 71%. Even more alarming, 17% of South Carolina is currently experiencing severe drought, with the majority of this drought category affecting large parts of Horry County and the Pee Dee region.

Precipitation in the Southeast has been very erratic over the past 7 days across most of the Carolinas. Even in areas that have seen more frequent heavy rains, drought indicators have not responded sufficiently to reverse the dry trend. Elsewhere, water flows and soil moisture continued to deteriorate in areas with near or even below-average weekly rainfall, marking another week of deterioration for many locations. Parts of the Tennessee Valley, the Carolinas, northern Gulf Coast states, and central and southern Appalachia have experienced only light rainfall amounts since early June.

The U.S. Drought Monitor has been a team effort since its inception in 1999 and is produced jointly by the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Drought is a normal part of the climate. It is a slow-moving hazard that can cause people to underestimate the damage it can cause. However, losses from drought can be as great as those from hurricanes, tornadoes and other disasters. Drought causes losses in agriculture, affects domestic water supplies, energy production, public health and wildlife, and contributes to wildfires, to name just a few of its impacts. However, it is important to note that large urban water systems generally have diverse water supplies and can provide water flow during both dry and wet seasons.

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