The severe drought ravaging Texas and other parts of the U.S. Southwest was getting worse, Reuters quoted a weather experts as saying on Thursday, with little respite seen for farmers, ranchers and others whose livelihoods and properties are suffering. The latest report from a consortium of national climate experts dubbed the Drought Monitor said while Texas remained the epicenter for devastation, "exceptional drought," which is the worst category, expanded not only there but through parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico and Louisiana. The lack of moisture, coupled with high temperatures and wind, fueled wildfires that so far have ravaged 2.2 million acres and destroyed more than 1,100 buildings in Texas. Farmers are giving up on wheat fields, and ranchers are struggling to keep cattle fed and watered. The drought in the Southwest and Southern Plains comes even as persistent rains and flooding are plaguing parts of the U.S. Midwest and lower Mississippi Valley. "We have all this flooding in the East and the Mississippi Valley, and drought in the South," said climatologist Mark Svoboda. "That is the way Mother Nature seems to be dealing things right now, in the extremes." Excessive rainfall has slowed the planting of corn in key growing areas and could become a threat for other key crops, including soybeans. Indeed, only 13 percent of corn was planted by May 1, well behind the average pace of 40 percent. -- SPA
