As extreme drought and wildfires plague the state of Texas, at last some areas were lucky and received rain.
In the entire state of 254 counties, 250 have an outdoor burning ban. To date, 18,504 wildfires have been fought, 3.5 million acres burned, and 2,498 structures lost.
Some counties are not out of the smoke yet.
“We have received no rain in Bastrop. The fire north of Houston in Magnolia and Tomball may have had some rain,” said Terry Orr, mayor of Bastrop in a telephone interview. “Our current situation here is that we have opened areas for residents to return to their homes. There are still firefighters in the area to help with hot spots just in case of any emergencies or reigniting incidents. The fire is under control. It has been quite cloudy today and we have not been having cloudy days for quite a long time. Seems like it is possible that we might get some rain.”
The Texas Forest Service has responded to 131 fires over 19,736 acres. The latest drought monitor showed 95 percent of the state in extreme drought with 81 percent in exceptional drought, and the outlook is indicative of drying throughout the fall, so the drought is expected to get worse.
A resident of Bastrop had to evacuate three times.
"There has been no rain for the past two days, but looks like it will rain today though,” said Allison Meriwether of Bastrop, Texas in a telephone interview. “We had to evacuate again after I spoke to you the last time. We were evacuated on Sunday and returned on Monday, but the fire got worse and we left again on Tuesday. Some people have been evacuated for seven to eight days and didn’t get to go home until Thursday.” Meriwether’s sister Kirsten Meriwether is a reporter for The Epoch Times.
“Over the last two days there were some showers and thunderstorms. Over 96 percent of the state is suffering from extreme drought. The rainfall was not widespread, just temporary relief. Texas needs at least 10 to 20 inches of rain to make a dent in this drought and several days of soaking,” said meterologist Brian Edwards of AccuWeather in a telephone interview. “Expecting scattered showers and storms over the weekend but then after that we will see drier air. Expecting precipitation to run below normal and temperature above normal at least until November.”
Edwards added, “This drought is expected to continue for the rest of the year into the beginning of next year. Showers and clouds are helping things, but the drier air can add to the fires and another extended period of drier air and sunshine will fan the existing fires.”
At present all the major fires have been between 80 to 90 percent contained.
