Texas fears return of dust bowl

Dry weather has caused wildfires in many US states

By Jonny Dymond in Washington

There is much talk in the US state of Texas of a return of the dust bowl, when the land is so parched that the topsoil turns to useless dust.

Day after day, cloudless skies and burning heat are taking their toll on Texas and southern states of the United States.

Texas has not had any rain for 60 days now, breaking the 58-day record set in some of the worst days of the Depression.

The economic damage in Texas alone is thought to be $600m this year.

Concern for crops

There are now concerns about the state of the cotton crop - the state's most valuable crop, worth over a billion dollars.

Some farmers have already begun to plough the crop back into the land. Already, $300m has been lost.

Texas has had no rain for 60 days

Forecasters say there is nothing particularly new about the weather - it's just longer and hotter than before.

But compounding the problem is that Texas has not had a wet year (over 75cm of rain) since 1991.

However, the talk of the return to the dust bowl has been scoffed at by those who remember the condition of the Great Depression in the 1930s.

They say that conservation measures have improved since then, so the soil will survive.

It's little comfort though for farmers who are facing another barren year.