/ Courtesy: SCDNR Drought Response Committee
COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Drought Response Committee met Thursday, and put both Marion and Horry counties in the "severe" drought category. That's a step up from the "moderate" category they were in.
Marion and Horry are the only two counties in the state at that level.
The rest of the Pee Dee is still in the moderate category, while the most western counties are in the incipient phase. You see the attached map shows the severe counties in red, the moderate counties in orange and the incipient counties in yellow.
Farmers in Marion County have reported losing 70 percent of the corn crop and 50 percent of the hay crop, while Horry County is seeing one of its most dangerous summers for wildfires in a decade.
Committee members say the extreme heat in South Carolina in the past six weeks has offset some of the spotty thunderstorms.
