U.S. Drought Monitor map for Texas, 12 April 2011. This follows the driest March in Texas history, with wildfires burning in all but 2 of the state's 254 counties. unl.edu

By Jim Forsyth; Editing by Jerry Norton
18 April 2011
 
SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) – Texas Governor Rick Perry has requested a Major Disaster Declaration for the entire state, as brush fires which have burned more than 1.5 million acres continued on Monday. The fires have been whipped by 60-mile-an-hour wind gusts and fueled by brush dried out by record low humidity. “Texas is reaching its capacity to respond to these emergencies and is in need of federal assistance,” Perry said in a statement on Monday. “I urge President (Barack) Obama to approve our request quickly so Texans can continue receiving the resources and support they need as wildfires remain an ongoing threat.” So far a total of 7,800 separate fires have destroyed 244 homes, including 10 in southwest Austin on Sunday in what is being called the Pinnacle Fire. “We’ve got real strong winds, real dry air, real low humidities. Couple all that with dry fuels, which we have a lot of, and the fires are running pretty hard,” Marq Webb of the Texas Forest Service said on Monday. … “The dry conditions and drought we have been suffering make our area ripe for extreme fire danger,” Austin Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr said on Monday. … The Forest Service’s Webb said brush fires were burning in literally every portion of Texas. “We have over a million acres in the state of Texas burning all the way from Louisiana to New Mexico in multiple fires which are uncontrolled,” he said. Burn bans are currently in effect in 195 of the state’s 254 counties. The culprit in Texas is a historic lack of rain. State Climatologist John Neilson-Gammon said last month was the driest March in Texas history, and the six months between October and March were among the five driest winters ever recorded. …

Texas governor asks for disaster declaration over wildfires A truck that was headed towards Amarillo, Texas turns around to get away from the flames crossing FM 136 from the Potter County fire, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011. Texas Forest Service spokesman Lewis Kearney said two wildfires joined about five miles south of Amarillo to destroy or damage the almost two dozen homes Sunday afternoon. AP Photo / The Amarillo Globe News

By Alex Butler
Apr 15, 2011 LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) – A strong drought is blanketing Texas as wildfires ravage the state, destroying homes and tens of thousands of acres. Almost two-thirds of the state is in at least a moderate drought. According to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor, conditions in Texas are the most severe in the country and the drought is causing area dryland farmers to brace for what could be a very difficult year for their cotton crops. “We need rain and we need it now,” Lubbock cotton farmer Alan West said. Dryland farming is a technique for the cultivation of non-irrigated land which receives little natural rainfall. Extended periods without any rain, however, can have devastating consequences. Near record cotton prices gave Alan West and other West Texas farmers dreams of a great financial year in 2011. But if they don’t see rain soon, it may be too late. “We can irrigate, but that’s more of a supplement for some of the land; 60% of our land is dryland, so we have to have rain,” West explained. …

Severe Texas drought hurting dryland farmers