Wildfires Sweep Across Florida

CLASSROOMS. HELLO, I'M JENNIFER CRAWFORD. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US THIS WEEKEND MARKS THE OFFICIAL START OF RAINY SEASON IN FLORIDA. BUT THERE'S LITTLE HOPE THAT ENOUGH RAIN WILL FALL SOON ENOUGH TO EASE OUR SEVERE DROUGHT AND HELP REDUCE THE THREAT OF WILDFIRES. THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SAYS SINCE THE START OF THE NEW YEAR, MORE THAN 1500 WILDFIRES HAVE BURNED MORE THAN 55,000 ACRES ALL ACROSS THE STATE. THIS IS VIDEO FROM BROWARD COUNTY. THE MAXX ROAD FIRE AS IT'S KNOWN AS WHAT YOU SEE THERE. AND WHILE IT'S 95% CONTAINED, THE FLORIDA FORESTRY SERVICE SAYS IT'S ALREADY BURNED. 11,000 ACRES. THIS IS ON TOP OF ANOTHER FIRE IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY. THAT'S AT 300 ACRES AND A CHARLOTTE COUNTY FIRE NEAR THE AIRPORT HAS CHARRED CLOSE TO 100 ACRES. >> JOINING ME NOW IS WGCU SENIOR ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTER TOM BAYLES >> AND TOM, IT IS ONE THING WE TALK ABOUT A LACK OF RAIN. BUT THIS IS BECOMING A DIRE SITUATION. HE'S 2 FOR SOUTHWEST FLORIDA IS TRY. WE'RE TALKING HISTORICALLY DRY. >> MASSES, SPECIAL SATELLITES HAVE TAKEN A DEEP LOOK INTO FLORIDA'S CABINETS UNDERGROUND FOUND AQUIFER LEVELS OVERALL ARE AT THEIR LOWEST POINT IN 17 YEARS UNDER SOUTHWEST FLORIDA AND MUCH OF THE REST OF THE STATE. THE SATELLITES ORBIT, THE EARTH MEASURING MINISCULE CHANGES IN GRAVITY. AND WHEN THE AQUIFERS THAT LOW, THE EARTHWORKS EVER SO SLIGHTLY. THAT'S HOW SATELLITES CAN TELL HOW MUCH WATER IS OR IS NOT SITTING UNDERGROUND. A NEW MAP FROM NASA'S EARTH OBSERVATORY PUBLISHED THIS MONTH SHADES THE AREAS WITH THE LOWEST AQUIFER LEVELS IN DEEP RED. MOST OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA LAKE OKEECHOBEE AND EVERYTHING NORTH IS THOSE VERY COLORS. NASA SATELLITE READINGS ARE BAD NEWS FOR COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT SOUTHWEST FLORIDA THAT ARE ALREADY STRUGGLING WITH BURN BANS. AND SOME OF THE TOUGHEST WATERING RULES IN YEARS. >> SO, TOM, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT EVEN WHEN THE RAINY SEASON HITS, WHICH TECHNICALLY STARTS, MAY 15TH, IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO TRY TO REPLENISH THAT LAST WATER. >> THE AQUIFERS ARE SO LOW BECAUSE OF A DROUGHT THAT HAS GRIPPED THE STATE FOR MORE THAN A YEAR. WHICH OF COURSE YOU BEEN ABLE TO FOLLOW THROUGH WGCUS ONGOING. AN AWARD-WINNING SERIES PARCHED OF WHICH THIS IS THE 21ST INSTALLMENT. THE U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR SAYS NEARLY 80% OF FLORIDA IS AN EXTREME DROUGHT. FLORIDA AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER WILTON SIMPSON SAYS THIS YEAR IS SHAPING UP TO BE ONE OF THE WORST WILDFIRE SEASONS IN MORE THAN A GENERATION. A PAIR OF WILDFIRES NOW BURNING IN THE EASTERN EVER GLAZE HAS SCORCHED NEARLY 12,000 ACRES AND ARE THREATENING HOMES AND BUSINESSES. AND AS YOU'VE BEEN ABLE TO READ AT WGCU DOT ORG IN STORIES BY MYSELF AND MY COLLEAGUE MICHAEL BRAUN, WILDFIRES IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA'S EVERGLADES HAVE BURNED THROUGH AT LEAST 50,000 ACRES THIS YEAR. IN FOR NOTABLE BLAZES. MANY OF THESE FIRES BURNED SO HOT. THEY NEEDED WILD LAND. FIREFIGHTERS BROUGHT IN FROM OTHER STATES AND THE FEDERAL WITHOUT AN 18 MONTH DROUGHT IN THE REARVIEW A SOLID FLORIDA SUMMARY. NICE SEASON. MIKE WINTER DROUGHT OVER MONTHS. BUT WITH THE STATE THIS PARCHED, THE DROUGHT MAY NOT IN THIS YEAR UNLESS WE WALK OUT OF ONE NATURAL DISASTER RIGHT INTO ANOTHER. WOULD BE A HURRICANE. >> AND NO ONE EVER WISHES FOR A HURRICANE. BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE WE TRULY NEED THOSE KINDS OF RAINS. >> TO HELP THIS. YEAH, THE DROUGHT IS SO PERVASIVE THAT IT WOULD TAKE. >> LOTS OF RAINY DAYS, ONE AFTER ANOTHER AFTER ANOTHER. >> OR WHICH IS MUCH MORE LIKELY A SLOW-MOVING HURRICANE THAT DROPS FEET OF WATER AND THEN IT WOULD HOPEFULLY SOAKING ENOUGH BEFORE DAWN WASHES AWAY. AND WE'RE JUST WE'RE JUST IT'S UNFORTUNATE IN FLORIDA. SOMETIMES YOU TAKE ONE NATURAL DISASTER AND TREATED FOR ANOTHER. AND THIS IS AN EXTREME EXAMPLE OF THAT WILL THANK YOU FOR YOUR INSIGHT TODAY. TOM BAYLISS. THANK YOU, JENNIFER.