The drought that has plagued the Deep South for more than a year is creeping north.
Officials in several states are restricting outdoor burning in the face of water shortages and forest-fire risks from falling leaves and tinder-dry conditions.
Extreme drought conditions, the second-worst possible, have now spread into Kentucky, and severe conditions have returned to West Virginia and southwestern Virginia, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
"The last three months have sucked every bit of moisture we've had," said Ben Webster, a fire staff assistant for the West Virginia Division of Forestry.
In eastern Kentucky, retailers are sending bottled water to drought-stricken Magoffin County after its primary water source, the Licking River, fell to low levels and residents were told to conserve tap water.
Outdoor burning has been banned outright in 34 Kentucky counties and limited to between 4 p.m. to 7 a.m. in West Virginia.
Virginia officials need only look to last winter for reminder to be careful with campfires and burning leaves. Strong winds Feb. 10 fueled wildfires that burned more than 16,000 acres.
Elsewhere in the South, a lack of water also remains the main concern.
Tennessee and South Carolina worry that Atlanta may look at the nearby Tennessee or Savannah rivers for relief. Meanwhile, Georgia, Alabama and Florida have fought over how much water can be stored in north Georgia lakes.
S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster sued North Carolina last year after the state decided to allow 10 million gallons of water a day to be diverted from the Catawba River, which flows into South Carolina.
In Tennessee, Gov. Phil Bredesen has requested a federal designation of agricultural disaster for 39 counties because of crop and livestock losses.
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