On Thursday, the North Carolina Drought Management Advisory Council updated its drought classifications. Western Columbus County is now classified as D3 — extreme drought — making it the driest place in North Carolina.
The extreme drought classification applies to Bolton, Brunswick, Chadbourn, Clarendon, Whiteville, Lake Waccamaw, and part of Tabor City.
Earlier this week, Whiteville asked water customers to decrease their water usage by 10%. But so far, no other towns in the area have announced water restrictions.
Whiteville emergency services director Hal Lowder told WHQR that in spite of the drought, there was "no deficit of water at all" in town. Whiteville's water system relies on well water, which is less prone to over-evaporation during drought. Lowder also noted that Whiteville was on flood watch thanks to heavy rainfall on Thursday afternoon.
"We'll just have to wait and see what the rain does," he told WHQR.
Lake Waccamaw town manager Damon Kempski also said local water levels were in good shape, but that town and county officials would continue to monitor the situation.
"We have not implemented any water restrictions as of this date. We'll address that if anything comes about," he said. "But right now, knock on wood, we're good."
The DMAC also expanded its drought classifications for other areas in North Carolina this week. As of Thursday, 94 of 100 North Carolina counties are under drought conditions.
"This June was the driest on record for the state and one of the warmest. As a result, the state has quickly gone from normal in May to very, very dry," said DMAC chair Klaus Albertin. "Rain during the last week slowed the rapid drying, but was not enough to improve areas."
For updates on drought classifications, go to www.ncdrought.org.
