Photograph: Larry W. Smith/EPA At the weekend, the Texas Forest
Service responded to 63 new fires, many fanned by winds from
tropical storm Lee. Texas has been in drought for a year, with
more than 3.6m acres burnt in wildfires since the fire season
began in November. A record number of 38C days has dried grass
and hay, leaving ranchers with no choice but to sell cows for
slaughter. Weekly auctions that usually sell 1,500 cows at this
time of year are attracting 5,000 and even turning away
potential sellers, underlining the cost of severe weather that
Texas A&M University estimates has brought $5.2bn losses. While
Texas is the biggest drought victim, Oklahoma, New Mexico,
Kansas, Georgia and Louisiana are also affected. “This is an
all-time record for the driest, hottest summer on record in this
area since 1895,’’ said Travis Miller, a professor in Texas A&M
soil and crop sciences department. High temperatures and no rain
have devastated cotton – Texas’s biggest cash crop, with about
50 per cent of the US tot