Governor of parched Georgia to pray for rain

[Littleboy]

US governor's plea to above brings no rain Wed Nov 14, 12:21 PM ET
 


MIAMI (AFP) - Torrential rains that would ease Georgia's historic drought failed to materialize Wednesday, one day after the southern US state's governor prayed up a storm.

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Governor Sonny Perdue's prayer gathering stirred up controversy, but on the weather front it was followed by little more than thin drizzles in parts of Georgia.

"We respectfully pray up a storm," Perdue told a crowd that gathered on Tuesday outside the Capitol, which houses the state legislature.

"It is time to appeal to Him who can and will make a difference."

Local media received calls and mail from residents who felt the prayer ceremony violated the principle of separation of church and state, and insisted the governor should focus on better planning rather than hope for divine intervention.

"God is not an ATM machine you can go to and get whatever you need whenever you ask for it," one reader wrote on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's blog.

Much of Georgia is under a level four, or "extreme" drought, which officials say it the worst the state has experienced since 1892, if not in history. Forecasters fear the state could experience an unusually dry winter, which would exacerbate drought conditions.

OUGH BOY, Here comes all the name sayers...
This is why I ALWAY'S say: Gods Will Be Done...
It's safer to just stick with that, I Think...
YLBD

[Soldier4Christ]

Georgia governor credits prayer for overnight rain

ATLANTA - A storm crashed through the Southeast and brought up to an inch of rain in parts of drought-stricken Georgia, but forecasters said the storm likely did little to ease the state's historic drought.



The rain late Wednesday and early Thursday brought some precipitation to the parched hills of northern Georgia. The showers began a day after Gov. Sonny Perdue led a prayer service on the steps of the state Capitol to beg the heavens to end the drought.

"Certainly, we're not gloating about it," Perdue said from a trade mission in Canada. "We're thankful for the rain and hopefully it's the beginning of more. ... Frankly, it's great affirmation of what we asked for."

As the drought has worsened, Perdue has ordered water restrictions, launched a legal battle against the release of water from federal reservoirs and appealed to President Bush.

The rainfall was likely not enough the ease the drought, forecasters said.

"The ground probably sucked it all up," said Vaughn Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City. "The ground is so dry, I seriously doubt if any of the lakes rose any."

Storms hit elsewhere in the Southeast, injuring at least nine in Tennessee.

In Tennessee's Marion County, the roof of a Baptist church was heavily damaged in the storms, said Jeremy Heidt of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Three children were hurt by flying glass and were taken to hospitals, said Heidt.

City Hall across the street from the church suffered minor damage, Heidt said, and an ambulance business next to it had heavy damage. A house also collapsed, but the residents went to the hospital themselves.

"I couldn't get the door open because the outside pressure and wind was so strong," said Justin Lawhorne, manager of Wendy's restaurant in Kimball.

County schools were closed Thursday due to the storm.

More than a quarter of the Southeast is covered by an "exceptional" drought - the National Weather Service's worst drought category.