(Terrence Henry, State Impact Texas)
As Hurricane Isaac inflicts widespread human misery by pummeling Louisiana and the Gulf with wind and rain, you may be wondering if anything good could come of this.
For some farmers in the Midwest struggling with extreme drought, the storm could bring much-needed rain. AccuWeather says today that parts of Arkansas, Missouri and other states in the Central U.S. will “soon be on the receiving end of soaking downpours.”
“While flooding rainfall in southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi will tend to diminish farther inland, some beneficial rain will fall on the parched landscape hundreds, if not a thousand, miles away from the Gulf Coast,” the weather service says in a report today.
But none of that rain looks like it’s headed to Texas. And whatever the rains do to help the Midwest, they are mostly coming too late.
“The rain is coming far too late for this summer’s crops, such as corn and soybeans,” Accuweather says. But the rain could help some of the winter wheat crop, according to AccuWeather Agricultural Meteorologist Dale Mohler.
(Read more of this story at State Impact Texas)
MORE ON HURRICANE AFTERMATH & RESPONSE:
- Isaac will exit the New Orleans area slowly, leaving flooded homes, downed trees and thousands without electricity (NOLA.com)
- Storm’s Winds Slow as It Exits Southern Louisiana (New York Times)
- American Red Cross Volunteers Prepare To Mobilize To Louisiana (92 FM News)
- 5 reasons why Isaac didn’t become another Katrina (Houston Chronicle)
- Local Utility Ready To Assist Those Affected By Isaac (KUHF Public Radio)
- Texas way behind on storm planning (Houston Chronicle)
- Editorial: Hurricanes vs. infrastructure improvements (USA Today)
OTHER LOCAL AREA HEADLINES:
- County probation director resigns (Houston Chronicle)
Advocates clash over gay-bashing murder case (KRIV 26 Fox)- Sandusky Tainted Charity Looks to Delay Transfer of Assets and Programs to Houston Nonprofit (Nonprofit Quarterly)
- Galveston City council approves public housing plan (Galveston Daily News)
- New School Missing desks, bathroom door (Houston Chronicle)
- Expert coaxes dead to give up their secrets (Houston Chronicle)
- Hope for the other victim of cancer: your wallet (KRIV 26 Fox)
STATE, NATION & WORLD
- In the Hill Country, Fighting Fires Before They Start (State Impact Texas)
Solar Power Can Aid Strained Texas Grid, Officials Say (Texas Tribune)- West Nile in state not yet at peak (Houston Chronicle)
- West Nile Deaths Rise, but Isaac Seen as Unlikely to Add to Peril (New York Times)
- Doing It To Win: Veterans Raise Bar At Paralympics (NPR)
- ‘The Economy Stole My Retirement’ (Wall Street Journal)
- In Drought, Should Corn Be Food Or Fuel? (NPR)
- Syrian forces bombed people queuing for bread -HRW (AlertNet/Reuters)