Georgia Turns to Prayer to Ease Drought
By SHANNON McCAFFREY
The Associated Press
Thursday, November 8, 2007; 8:48 AM
ATLANTA -- What to do when the rain won't come? If you're Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, you pray.
The governor will host a prayer service next week to ask for relief from the drought gripping the Southeast.
"The only solution is rain, and the only place we get that is from a higher power," Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said on Wednesday.
Perdue's office has sent out invitations to leaders from several faiths for the service, set for Tuesday.
Perdue has several times mentioned the need for prayer _ along with water conservation _ as the state's drought crisis has worsened. Over the summer, he participated in day of prayer for agriculture at a gathering of the Georgia Farm Bureau in Macon, Ga.
Perdue, a Baptist, has enjoyed strong support from Georgia's Christian conservatives.
The Southeast has been suffering from an intense drought in recent months that has threatened supplies of drinking water. Georgia has been locked in a battle with Alabama and Florida over how much water should be sent downstream from the state's dwindling reservoirs.
Governors from the three states reached a temporary agreement after meeting with Bush administration officials in Washington.
The prayer service will be held outside the state Capitol on Tuesday. Unless, of course, it rains.
"Then we'll move it inside, thankfully," Brantley said.
- posted on 11/16/2007
Georgia Gets Rain, but It May Not Help
By GREG BLUESTEIN
The Associated Press
Thursday, November 15, 2007; 2:47 PM
ATLANTA -- A storm system crashed through the Southeast and brought up to an inch of rain in parts of drought-stricken Georgia, but forecasters said the storm likely did little to ease the state's historic drought.
The rain late Wednesday and early Thursday brought some precipitation to the parched hills of northern Georgia. The showers began a day after Gov. Sonny Perdue led a prayer service on the steps of the state Capitol to beg the heavens to end the drought.
"Certainly, we're not gloating about it," Perdue said from a trade mission in Canada. "We're thankful for the rain and hopefully it's the beginning of more. ... Frankly, it's great affirmation of what we asked for."
As the drought has worsened, Perdue has ordered water restrictions, launched a legal battle against the release of water from federal reservoirs and appealed to President Bush.
About an inch of rain fell through north Georgia, and Atlanta received about a half an inch. It wasn't enough to ease the ease the drought, forecasters said.
"It puts a little bit of extra water in some of the smaller tributaries and reservoirs, but it doesn't provide any significant long-term benefit," said Matt Sena, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "We need months of above average rainfall to start putting a dent in this," he added.
Storms hit elsewhere in the Southeast, injuring at least nine in Tennessee.
In Kentucky, a tornado hit a rural stretch of the southeastern part of the state Wednesday afternoon. No injuries were reported.
"It was real intense," Laurel County Sheriff Fred Yaden said. "The winds were really strong, and the rain was coming in gushes."
In Tennessee's Marion County, the roof of a Baptist church was heavily damaged in the storms, said Jeremy Heidt of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Three children were hurt by flying glass and were taken to hospitals, said Heidt.
City Hall across the street from the church suffered minor damage, Heidt said, and an ambulance business next to it had heavy damage. A house also collapsed, but the residents went to the hospital themselves.
"I couldn't get the door open because the outside pressure and wind was so strong," said Justin Lawhorne, manager of Wendy's restaurant in Kimball.
County schools were closed Thursday due to the storm.
More than a quarter of the Southeast is covered by an "exceptional" drought _ the National Weather Service's worst drought category.
- posted on 11/16/2007
Group to Protest Ga. Rain Prayer
The Associated Press
Friday, November 9, 2007; 11:29 PM
ATLANTA -- A secular group said Friday it would protest Gov. Sonny Perdue's planned prayer service intended to ask for relief from the Southeastern drought, saying the rally violates the principle of separation of church and state.
Perdue's office announced Wednesday that it had sent out invitations to leaders from several faiths for the service, set for Tuesday outside the state Capitol.
"The problem is not that they are praying for rain, it's they are doing it in our name," said Ed Buckner of the Atlanta Freethought Society, which seeks to educate the public about the separation of church and state. "We didn't elect that guy as a preacher. He has no right to make a religious statement on behalf of Georgians."
A Baptist, Perdue has several times mentioned the need for prayer _ along with water conservation _ as the state's drought crisis has worsened. Over the summer, he participated in day of prayer for agriculture at a gathering of the Georgia Farm Bureau in Macon, Ga.
The Southeast has been suffering from an intense drought in recent months that has threatened supplies of drinking water.
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