What Are Droughts

A drought is a long period of time with much less rain than normal. Droughts are different from other natural hazards because they do not happen suddenly. Instead, they develop slowly over weeks, months, or even years.

During a drought, the land does not get enough water. Rivers and lakes begin to shrink as water levels drop lower and lower. The soil dries out and becomes hard. Plants cannot grow without enough water, so crops in farmers' fields start to die. When crops fail, farmers lose the food they planned to grow and sell.

People face serious problems during droughts. Families may not have enough water for drinking, cooking, and bathing. These are basic needs that everyone depends on every day. Animals also suffer because they need water to drink and plants to eat. When plants die from lack of water, animals lose their food source.

Droughts create another danger: wildfires. Dry plants catch fire very easily, so wildfires spread quickly during droughts. A single spark can start a huge fire that burns across the land.

Droughts can affect enormous areas. Sometimes a drought covers several states at once, impacting millions of people. Because droughts last a long time, their effects build up slowly and can cause damage for years.

Interesting Fact: The longest drought in United States history was the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, which lasted nearly a decade and forced hundreds of thousands of families to leave their farms and move to other states.