Posted by: McQ on Friday, June 01, 2007 It is hot and dry here in Georgia. We're well into a drought which rivals the one we had here in the '80s with no rain in sight. With the official start of the hurricane season yesterday, I think we're at the point we might welcome one ... if it's a bitty one with brings lots of rain. Down south of Atlanta, about 250 miles, the Okefenokee swamp has been burning for over 50 days. I was down there about 10 days ago and at the time the newspapers were reporting that it was only 15% contained. I drove from Waycross to Brunswick GA, a distance of about 50 miles and never once drove out of the smoke. In fact I didn't see blue skies again until I had driven out of Brunswick and 50 miles northwest to Jesup, GA. The smoke is now a regular visitor in Atlanta, thanks to recent southwestern winds. The air quality index seems to stay over 100 on a scale of 300. Given what I saw down in Waycross and how this fairly dissappated smoke affects me, I can't imagine how the folks in the Waycross area are getting through this. It's one thing to have a wildfire that lasts a few days or a week. That's certainly bad. But almost 2 months? People have asked how a swamp burns. Well, very low water (drought) and peat. The fires are hard to extinguish and have a tendency to pop back up again. And it's also hard to get around in a swamp. There are obviously other reasons I don't know about but suffice it to say this has been one bear of a fire. Anyway, a rainy night (or 10) in GA would be very welcome. |
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