Talk about drought…yikes!
Lake Okeechobee so dry it's on fire
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI -- Water levels in dried-out Lake Okeechobee dropped Wednesday to match a historic low set in 2001, while firefighters battled a blaze burning on part of the exposed lake bottom.
The South Florida Water Management District expected the record of 8.97 feet from May 24, 2001, to evaporate later in the day as the region's worst known drought continues. The average water level for this time of year should be around 13 feet in the second-largest freshwater lake in the contiguous United States.
The 12,000-acre fire started Monday in the vegetation left to dry in the sun as the lake waters receded from its northwest rim, said Melissa Yunas, a spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Forestry.
