Texas

Energy and Environment Reporting for Texas

Life By the Drop: When the Sky Ran Dry

While the drought we’re only now making real progress out of is still fresh in every Texan’s mind, there’s a whole generation in the state that can remember a time that was arguably more trying.

The drought of record in the 1950s lasted for seven years. Imagine seven 2009s or 2011s back to back and you’ll get the idea. It was an event that changed the state forever.

The voices of that drought can still teach us something today. NPR’s John Burnett traveled to West Texas to hear firsthand from the survivors of the drought of record, and in his audio report below (and the slideshow above), you can listen to what those voices remember. And you can read the full story in Texas Monthly.

This report is part of the series Life By the Drop: Drought, Water and the Future of Texas, a collaboration with KUT News and Texas Monthly and StateImpact Texas. You can listen to a special one-hour audio report from the series here at StateImpact Texas. And you can learn more about the history of the drought at our interactive web page, Dried Out: Confronting the Texas Drought, and share your thoughts on Twitter with the hashtag #txwater.

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