The Next Disaster: Droughts and Floods

Earlier this year, water levels along the Mississippi River were too low. Now they’re too high. Flooding and droughts… For farmers and forecasters, they’re two sides of the same weather coin. Too much rain, or not enough and you have a disaster.

FOX News Radio’s Jennifer Keiper reports in our series “The Next Disaster”:

With 80% of farmland in drought last year, it was more extensive than any since the ’50’s.

National Weather Service Director Dr. Louis Uccellini says extreme to exceptional drought levels were reached in the corn-belt within a month.

(Dr. Uccellini) “And it turns out that research since then, is tying this to climate patterns over the Indian Ocean – over the entire Pacific, as related to the pattern over us that created that drought and we didn’t forecast it.”

Some farmers eager to plant when perfect weather hit in Spring 2012 have been more cautious this time around.

A Pleasantville, Iowa farmer says…

(Farmer) “We’ve got crop insurance in place and we’re hoping we don’t collect but you’ve, you’ve gotta cover all your bases.”

Some areas that were dry last year have found themselves very much “in the deep” this Spring.?The National Weather Service predicted a dire Red River flooding situation in Fargo, North Dakota, but it didn’t pan out. No major damage.

However, flooding in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan after torrential rains.

In Alton, Illinois recently…

(Illinois Man) “It’s just sad for some of the restaurants because, a month ago, they had to take everything out and then they put it all back in – cleaned it all.”

…And now they’re doing it again.

Portions of Texas and some of the plains states are still dry.

Jennifer Keiper, FOX News Radio.