Drought: UpDate Oct.'07

Drought Tightens Its Grip on Southeast

By GREG BLUESTEIN
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iYOMIAzXREFVjcYtNagkheasCXwAD8S9TRGO0

BUFORD, Ga. (AP) — If there's a ground zero for the epic drought that's tightening its grip on the South, it's once-mighty Lake Lanier, the Atlanta water source that's now a relative puddle surrounded by acres of dusty red clay.

Tall measuring sticks once covered by a dozen feet of water stand bone dry. "No Diving" signs rise from rocks 25 feet from the water. Crowds of boaters have been replaced by men with metal detectors searching the arid lake bed for lost treasure.

"This lake is a survivor," Jeff "Buddha" Powell told a worried customer at his bait shop along the barren banks.

"If you panic, you don't help Mother Nature," he added. "It's going to rain when it rains."

But little rain is in the forecast, and without it climatologists say the water source for more than 3 million people could run dry in just 90 days[emphasis added].

For more on this coming catastrophe See:

Drought USA: Trickling Implications

"Days pass and still no water. The stores are empty of all Liquid refreshment. You haven't had a bath or been able to flush the toilet. 5 million are restless as FEMA supply's run out. People are Dieing in the streets. Riots break out.How do you control this?"