{"id":588811,"date":"2026-04-17T01:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T01:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/588811\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T01:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T01:17:08","slug":"usda-declares-82-nc-counties-natural-disaster-areas-as-drought-blankets-the-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/588811\/","title":{"rendered":"USDA declares 82 NC counties natural disaster areas as drought blankets the state"},"content":{"rendered":"

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) \u2014 The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 82 North Carolina counties as natural disaster areas due to drought conditions.<\/p>\n

North Carolina Governor Josh Stein addressed the designation on social media, saying farmers in affected counties may be eligible for emergency loan assistance<\/a> and other disaster relief programs.<\/p>\n

It’s unclear which 82 counties were declared natural disaster areas, but the latest U.S. Drought Monitor<\/a> shows the entire state under some level of drought.<\/p>\n

SEVERE DROUGHT COVERS 100% OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA, UPSTATE; 59% IN EXTREME DROUGHT<\/a><\/p>\n

The state has a 95% severe drought and 22% extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.<\/p>\n

According to the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council (DMAC), 30 N.C. counties<\/a> are experiencing extreme drought. As News 13’s meteorologist Meghan Danahey noted<\/a>, 59% of western North Carolina and the Upstate are in an extreme drought.<\/p>\n

\"Drought<\/p>\n

Drought in North Carolina as of April 14, 2026. (WLOS\/U.S. Drought Monitor)<\/p>\n

For counties under extreme drought, water systems are advised to follow their Water Shortage Response Plan and adhere to water reduction rules, DMAC said. The public can check with their local water supply on water restrictions in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn February, it looked like we might see a shift in the dryness that started last August, but it was only a brief respite,\u201d DMAC chair Klaus Albertin said. \u201cWe saw low rainfall statewide in March, and April is also shaping up to be a record setter for low precipitation.\u201d <\/p>\n

DROUGHT IN WESTERN CAROLINAS NEARS LONG-TERM STAGE AFTER MONTHS OF DRY CONDITIONS<\/a><\/p>\n

It typically takes repeated, sustained rainfall over weeks to months, not just a few storms, to reverse longer-term drought conditions, according to News 13’s meteorologist Julia Haley<\/p>\n

Comment with Bubbles<\/p>\n

JOIN THE CONVERSATION (1)<\/p>\n

Haley said the drought in western North Carolina is impacting soil moisture and vegetation, quickly drying out grasses and increasing wildfire risk. The state is under a burn ban as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) \u2014 The U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated 82 North Carolina counties as natural disaster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-588811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}