Drought Conditions

Throughout the year, states from North Carolina to Florida faced drought conditions that mostly affected farmers and firefighters, not insurers. But the insurance industry watched closely as the fire danger was raised in the Southeast by the drought. The exceptionally dry conditions meant almost anything could start a fire — from a dropped match to downed power lines.

A wildfire that raced through the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia and into Florida was sparked by lightning. Wildfires this spring were the largest in Georgia’s history.

In a normal year, Tennessee will have 2,800 blazes which will consume about 30,000 acres. But in 2007, fires burned 41,249 acres statewide. North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest burned for more than a week.

In South Carolina, since July 1, the number of wildfires and the acreage burned is more than double that of a typical year.