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American Morning

Up and Down East Coast, Low Rainfall Causing Flood of Drought Warnings

Aired March 14, 2002 - 08:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Rain, rain, come and stay. It's a plea being heard up and down the east coast, where low rainfall is causing a flood of drought warnings. The state of New Jersey has already declared a water emergency, and a little bit later on this morning, the federal government's weather service will also weigh in with its own drought report. The unusual winter drought has officials starting to seriously worry about what may be ahead this summer.

Here is CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nurseries stocking up for spring planting pray the winter drought gives way to lots of rain and soon.

(on camera): How much more rain do we really need to make this a good spring?

PETER MOLYNEUX, GALAXY GARDENS: We need at least a half an inch to an inch of rain per week to at least stabilize the conditions that we have presently.

FEYERICK (voice-over): But even that's not happening, experts from the nation's weather service saying 14 of the last 16 months have be too dry, with below average rainfall. Up and down the east coast, reservoirs and lakes more than half empty, in places the lowest they've ever been, drought warning spreading from Maine to Florida, state and local officials urging people to save.

New York City's mayor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We cannot use water for things we don't absolutely have to use it for.

FEYERICK: New Jersey, the governor declaring a drought emergency. No car washes, no lawn watering, no water without asking in restaurants. Wood Cliff Lake Reservoir, 30 percent full.

(on camera): Normally at this time of year, the water would be right about where I'm standing, 10 feet higher than it is right now. The last time this reservoir was really full was back in September of 1999, after Hurricane Floyd, when this bridge was under three feet of water.

(voice-over): Hurricane Floyd, a temporary fix for a drought that's been around on and off for the last five years.

(on camera): The irony of course is that we're standing here and it's drizzling. How much of an impact is this drizzle that we're experiencing right now going to have on the reservoirs?

RICH HENNING, UNITED WATER: This drizzle is not an impact at all. It basically will be very little measurable rainfall. What we need is steady, hard rain.

FEYERICK: No one knows when that's likely to come, meaning it could get worse. How bad is it really?

GEORGE MCKILLOP, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: It's very bad. It's bad enough to the point where we need to start taking notice of this and really start the conservation and the water restriction process.

HENNING: The real threat down the line for everybody is that we may be looking at rationing at some point, you know, months down the line if we just don't get any rainfall at all.

FEYERICK: The reason many states want people to save now, before they're forced to later.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Wood Cliff Lake, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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