PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) – More than 40 counties in Mississippi are now considered disaster areas amid the ongoing drought across the nation.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the following counties are considered primary drought-struck:

• Adams
• Amite
• Bolivar
• Calhoun
• Claiborne
• Coahoma
• Copiah
• Franklin
• Greene
• Grenada
• Jefferson
• Lafayette
• Leflore
• Lincoln
• Panola
• Perry
• Quitman
• Sunflower
• Tallahatchie
• Wilkinson
• Yalobusha

The USDA is considering these counties contiguous to the drought-struck:

• Carroll
• Chickasaw
• Forrest
• George
• Hinds
• Holmes
• Humphreys
• Jones
• Lawrence
• Marshall
• Montgomery
• Pike
• Pontotoc
• Rankin
• Simpson
• Stone
• Tate
• Tunic
• Union
• Walthal
• Warren
• Washington
• Wayne
• Webster

The department is now offering relief for impacted farmers through low-interest loans to cover production and physical losses.

Farmers have until Dec. 10 to apply for the loans at their local farm service agency.

“Not a lot of farmers are lining up to get another loan, I can tell you that, especially in these days and times,” Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson said. “However, it’s something that could help in a critical situation.”

The loans are intended to help pay for essential family living expenses, reorganize farming operations and refinance specific debts, according to the USDA.

Gipson said he’s predicting, based on trends from the U.S. Drought Monitor, that current conditions will eventually trigger other forms of relief, like the Livestock Forage Disaster Program.

“It’s going to help farmers be able to purchase hay to keep feeding the cows and keep the herd going,” Gipson said.

The state has already gotten around half of its regular rainfall so far in 2026, making it the 10th-driest year on record to date.

That’s according to the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Industry leaders are hoping for more rainfall, but at this point, they expect the disaster list to keep growing.

“We can only pray that the rain will fall before too long,” Gipson said. “We don’t need this dry pattern to continue throughout the entire summer.”

More information on the emergency farm loans is available on the USDA website.

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In these drought conditions, fires are breaking out across the area, many on farms and in open fields.

In Broadway, about seven acres burned while a farmer was working his land along U.S. 421, according to the North Carolina Forestry Service.

“My God… go, go, go,” said one man who witnessed the flames spread. 

Officials say the fire spread quickly through dry hay. The landowner told WRAL he was working the field when, in an instant, a spark from his equipment ignited the dry land.

It’s a pattern showing up across the region. Just two weeks ago in Cumberland County, a farmer described a nearly identical scenario under similar dry conditions.

“We were baling wheat straw and the hay baler caught on fire… the dry straw just took off burning,” said Joe Gillis, Cumberland County farmer. 

First responders with Boone Trail Emergency Services say extreme drought is fueling these fast-moving fires. Several experts in North Carolina said the state is experiencing “historic levels of dryness.”

Much of western North Carolina and the mid-part of the state, from Raleigh north, are in “extreme drought,” or the second-highest/worst level. In an extreme drought, major crop and pasture losses are expected, reservoirs and wells are at very low levels and many municipalities limit water use.

Since a statewide burn ban was implemented on March 28, the N.C. Forest Service reports 971 fires across the state that have burned 2,870 acres. Only five of the blazes are being blamed on natural ignition or lightning. 

The US Department of Agriculture says one key way to reduce risk is to maintain it properly. Regularly clean and closely monitor farm equipment to prevent sparks.

In these dry conditions, it only takes one spark to destroy an entire field.

ENID, Okla. (AP) — A powerful tornado in Oklahoma on Thursday ripped roofs off buildings, knocked down power poles and sent emergency crews rushing into a rural community near Vance Air Force Base, officials said.

The confirmed tornado moved across parts of Enid, a city of about 50,000 people near the state’s northern border, according to the National Weather Service. Video posted online show a rapidly rotating column of air touching down along with totaled homes.

There were no immediate reports of fatalities and only minor injuries hours after the tornado passed through, according to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities were going door-to-door in some neighborhoods to check on residents.

The Vance Air Force Base was impacted by the tornado, but the extent of the damage was not immediately clear. The base said in a social media post that officials “are currently conducting accountability procedures to ensure all personnel are safe and accounted for.”

“Please join me in praying for the Enid community, which has been severely impacted by tonight’s tornado,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt posted on social media.

Enid Police Department spokesperson Cass Rains said there had been early reports of people trapped in homes and extensive damage. Garfield County includes Vance Air Force Base, which is about 80 miles (129 kilometers) north of Oklahoma City.