McCoy: Drought to remain a problem

Van Wert independent/EMA information

The widespread drought is likely to worsen into July, according to Van Wert County Emergency Management Director Rick McCoy. Things are getting to a very critical stage now and the lack of good, healthy rains in the forecast have farmers and Emergency officials very concerned. To date, this spring has been the driest on record surpassing the droughts of 1934, 1941 and even in recent memory 1988. The difference in 88 and this year was the fact that the 1988 spring was already in a drought before it began. This year there were abundant rains over the winter so our drought didn’t start until rains began to shut off. But, overall, this has been the driest spring ever, McCoy said

The EMA director went on to say that his office is monitoring conditions closely to see how that will affect the community, adding that he speaks with the National Weather Service almost daily to receive updates and relay information to government officials and fire chiefs as needed.

One area concern is water levels. He said the City of Van Wert is currently in great shape. Because of excellent long term planning by city officials and the building of the third reservoir, along with rains over the winter months, all three reservoirs were completely full prior to the dry conditions. He said this means a year’s supply of water is setting on the south end of town, with no water shortages expected for the city. Elsewhere in the county, there is currently only one water ban in effect and that is in the village of Convoy.

Meanwhile, another concern is the fire danger, which increases every day. McCoy said the increasingly dry vegetation would lead to a greater potential for outdoor fires. This week alone will see temperatures rise to near 100 on Thursday, with humidity in the 20 to 30 percent range.

“We have already seen several grass fires and one field fire in the county,” he said. “Across Indiana, where the drought is slightly worse, numerous reports of large and rapidly spreading grass and field fires have been reported.”

A total of 64 of the 92 counties in Indiana are currently under countywide burn bans, McCoy said, adding that the villages in Van Wert County are now under burn bans. He also advised that Van Wert County as a whole is currently is not under a ban, but that is still being assessed with the County Board of Commissioners and the volunteer fire chiefs. The City of Van Wert has not disallowed permits to burn at this point.

The EMA director said that, although crops still seem to be hanging on — and some are actually looking pretty decent — reports are starting to come in of failed germination rates in soybeans and some crops actually starting to die. If the dry spell continues, he said a huge economic loss is possible for the area. Furthermore, current forecasts are leaning in the direction of continuing hot and dry weather, and widespread drought is expected to worsen in July.

National Weather Service forecasts for July indicate below normal precipitation and above normal temperatures. McCoy said the county would need 8 inches of rain spread out over a few weeks to relieve the current drought conditions, but with a forecast that the summer could be a scorcher and no big rains expected, the year 2012 is expected to go down in the books as a record-setter.