Drought creates desert-like conditions in Texas
By BETSY BLANEY The Associated Press
LUBBOCK, Texas — While much of the nation focuses on a spring marked by historic floods and deadly tornadoes, Texas and parts of several surrounding states are suffering through a searing drought that has created desert-like conditions.
Some parts of the Lone Star State have not seen any significant precipitation since August. Bayous, cattle ponds and farm fields are drying up, and residents are living under constant threat of wildfires, which have already burned across thousands of square miles.
Parts of Texas are bone dry, with scarcely any moisture to be found in the top layers of soil. In some places, grass is so dry it crunches underfoot. The nation's leading cattle-producing state just endured its driest seven-month span on record, and some ranchers are culling their herds to avoid paying supplemental feed costs......
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