According to a new report released by the National Climatic Data Center today, the 2012 drought disaster is now the largest in over 50 years, and among the ten largest of the past century. Only the extraordinary droughts of the 1930s and 1950s have covered more land area than the current drought. 55 percent of the contiguous United States was under moderate to extreme drought in June.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture declared 1,000 counties in 26 states disaster areas because of drought.
Here in Indiana, some parts of the state had the driest month of June on record. Indianapolis had less than 1/1oth of an inch of rain during the month. Burn bans have been in place since Memorial Day and now cover the entire state, and many municipalities have now put watering bans in place.
Forecast for this week here: Most days in the mid-90’s with heat advisories, cooling off to the upper 80’s. There’s only a small chance for scattered showers on any given day.
Today the blower motor on our central air conditioning went out. It has run constantly for two months.
They say we need 4-6 inches of rain over a two-week period just to bring us back to our normal hot, dry summer conditions.
Last week, 22 people in Chicago died from heat-related causes.
Drought does not make as spectacular an impact as hurricanes or tornadoes or some other natural disasters, but the 1988 drought ranks as the second most costly weather-related disaster since records began in 1980. It racked up an estimated $40 billion in losses and was surpassed only by Hurricane Katrina in costliness as a natural disaster.
Only 31 percent of the nation’s corn crop is rated good or better. Only 34 percent of the soybeans. Missouri, hit worst by the current drought, has only 7 percent of its corn good or better.
Farmers here have started abandoning their crop, cutting down the corn and grinding it up for silage.
It’s all a huge comedown for farmers who had expected a record year when they sowed 96.4 million acres in corn, the most since 1937.
An Associated Press article quotes southern Illinois farmer, Kenny Brummer, who has lost 800 acres of corn that he grows to feed his 400 head of cattle and 30,000 hogs. Now he’s scrambling to find hundreds of thousands of bushels of replacement feed. “Where am I going to get that from? You have concerns about it every morning when you wake up,” said Brummer, who farms near Waltonville. “The drought is bad, but that’s just half of the problem on this farm.”
Plan on paying higher prices for many, many food and other items as the year goes along. Some predict this year’s drought may make a $50 billion hit as effects of the drought work their way through the economy, with a real possibility that food prices will be forced to record levels.
Let’s not forget the poor and more vulnerable among us. Extremely hot, arid weather poses real hardships for homeless people who are elderly or disabled, struggle with alcohol or drug addiction, suffer from medical conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure, or who take medications that cause sensitivity to the hot sun. Elderly people, folks with breathing difficulties, and children are especially susceptible to the heat and those caring for them should take special precautions to keep them cool and hydrated.
Look for opportunities to give a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name to someone who must work or spend a great deal of time outside in this weather.
Praying “Give us this day our daily bread” is taking on fresh meaning this year.
* * *
O God, heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ
hast promised to all those who seek thy kingdom and its
righteousness all things necessary to sustain their life: Send
us, we entreat thee, in this time of need, such moderate rain
and showers, that we may receive the fruits of the earth, to our
comfort and to thy honor; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Internet Monk Archives 
Im no professional, but I imagine you just made the best point. You obviously fully understand what youre talking about, and I can really get behind that. Thanks for being so upfront and so honest.
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Rain today?
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Here in NW Arkansas we had an extremely hot and dry summer last year. This summer is the second of a one-two punch. Oak trees are dying.
T
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Starvation is usually the immediate trigger for revolution. A lot of regimes have been able to keep a lid on dissent without much trouble — until food gets scarce (or priced out of reach) and a big chunk of their population gets hungry all at the same time.
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Don’t you know, Josh, the only reason God exists is so He can Punish Us and Punish Us and Punish Us and Punish Us? (And when He’s not Punishing Us, He’s thinking up new ways to Punish Us.) I’ve encountered far too much of that Godly(TM) attitude in my past. All it’s done is sow a deep distrust of God.
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Yep, I’m well aware of how Pat Robertson (among others) stuffs both feet in his mouth with room to spare after most natural disasters. I’m surprised that divine meteorology hasn’t been more publicized this time around. That said, at ground level, sadly, it’s alive and well.
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Amen! Well spoken.
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And California decided to export its heat. The Central Valley’s high today was 82 and we are having a fantastic summer – weather wise – lots of high 80s, low 90s. We have only had 2 days this summer that have topped 100. But since we usually know what it feels like to be so hot we are praying for the rest of you!
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Josh, the past several natural disasters have always had some preacher claiming to the media that It’s God Punishing Us for (1) Evolution, (2) Abortion, (3) Homosexuality, (4) Obama, (5) All Of The Above. It’s getting to be the norm.
That’s why I was wondering about why I hadn’t heard anything this time around — in a nation of 300 million, there’s going to be SOMEBODY who shoots his mouth off.
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I gotta be honest, the residual fundamentalist in me is really tempted to do some John Piper meteorology when I see things like this. I could understand why God would be angry with America. I really do believe we have seen significant moral decline in the last century or so, but not in the “Leave It to Beaver” to “Sodom and Gomorrah” extremes that the religious right paints it. But then again, if I take my narcissistic eyes off America, it becomes obvious that despite our frequent natural disasters, we’re not remotely the only ones. Then if I conclude that God is judging the whole world, well, that’s not exactly news.
But our churches have got to stop preaching “Repent or God will send another earthquake!” The rain falls on the just and the unjust (or in this case, the lack thereof). Blaming natural disasters on God without a clear word from Him on the subject is pretty much like inverse prosperity theology. It’s not our job to serve as old testament prophets to an unregenerate culture, because America is not the people of God; the church is. If God is indeed punishing sins with the weather, repentance must start with the church, not the secular culture. Leading by example is better than pointing the finger. There’s never a better time to give that cup of water in Jesus name. Lord have mercy, and incline our hearts to keep this law.
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Sadly, yes. I heard this from the pulpit last week. Global warming aka climate change is a ruse to avoid admitting that God is judging America with drought and natural disasters for turning away from from being a Christian nation. It made me feel sick – literally.
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Global warming? Somebody call the PC police! It’s “CLIMATE CHANGE,” duh! We don’t know what direction it’s going, but we do know that it’s gonna be horrible, and it’s all our fault for driving cars.
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Cornwell… a last name apropos for these prayers.
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Last time we had a major drought, there were preachers coming out of the woodwork citing how God Sends Drought To Punish Us, citing the OT as Proof. Any of that happening this time around?
And I am sure there are Brights claiming the same except it’s Mother Gaia Punishing Us for Global Warming Global Warming Global Warming…
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For sesonable weather, for abundance of the fruits of the earth, and for peaceful times… Lord, have mercy.
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Here in west central Indiana, our goats hardly ate any hay during the warm winter we had, but now they’re eating a bale a day because we have no pasture. We’re cutting down our miserable-looking sweet corn and feeding that to them as well. I imagine that soon hay will be expensive and hard to find. And we don’t rely on our livestock for a living; I feel great concern for those who do.
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Texas decided to export its drought. We’ve had it for more than five years. Billions lost in cattle and crop industries. It has seemed like the end of days for many down here but hasn’t made national headlines I guess. Hottest summer on record last year but it’s looking like the drought has broken for the time being.
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I live in Indy and it’s been amazing to see everything dry up! Our blower fan blew a capacitor last week too, since it HAS been running non stop for months like you said.
We did get a pop up rain shower last evening with a beautiful rainbow. It certainly won’t do much, but it was something.
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We are fortunate here in Maine to be getting both sun AND rain. I would wish for the days to be less hot, but compared to what is going on in much of the rest of the USA, we are very lucky. I hope that the dry areas get needed rain soon, but not so much they get flooding problems!
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Ironically (if that’s the appropriate word), the UK is facing similar prospects of low crop yield, but for the opposite reason – it’s been raining pretty-much non-stop for the last 6 weeks…
Rain or shine, food under pressure
Rain ends Devon vegetable box scheme
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We just had a food drive at our church to replenish the shelves at the food bank we help support. I’ll bet, with this drought, that more and more people are going to be using that bank.
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Some scholars trace the Arab Spring uprisings (among other manifestations of social instability) to the last spike in food prices, back in 2007-2008.
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Praying.
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I’m praying that NE Indiana and other drought stricken areas will get some rain, soon.
And I’m praying for all those who have to weather the non-storms.
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Where we live in northeast Indiana the drought has reached a state of desperation. I live in a section of my son-in-law’s dairy farm. On this section he normally keeps around 20 heifers until they are older. They graze the pastures, plus eat feed and hay he delivers to this part of the farm. Two or three weeks ago he removed them from here to take back to the main farm where he can provide more shelter from the heat and provide food. The grass is brown and there is none to eat. The milking cows at the main farm will not eat because of the heat and the milk production is way way down.
There are 80 acres on this section of the farm with much of it planted in corn or beans. The crop looks very bad at this point. On the main section of the farm he installed irrigation two years ago. He plans to add more acres in the near future. However there is always worry about the aquifer when it gets this bad.
He and his father, who owned the farm before him, have a lot of experience and have been through other droughts. But this may end up being our worst one. He never seems to panic, but he must be terribly worried. One year like this won’t ruin him, but the chance of more to come must bear on his mind.
So, yes. Praying for our needs is necessary. Pray and trust in God that He will provide. We all must do this.
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