As the drought continued to expand and intensify in Georgia this past week, five counties in northeast Georgia are now experiencing “exceptional” drought conditions. That is the most serious category used by the U.S. Drought Monitor (USDM) to measure the intensity of a drought. Those counties are Banks, Hart, Madison, Elbert and Franklin.
Overall, since the last report a week ago, “exceptional” conditions in Georgia increased by six percent and now cover one-third of the state. “Extreme” conditions, the category into which Hall and surrounding counties fall, grew by nine percent.
Meanwhile, the level of Lake Lanier as of Thursday was 1065.8, unchanged from a week ago, according to the Corps of Engineers.