Local man remembers '36 drought

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Days of record heat passed; months with only a sprinkle of rain teased the thirsty earth, but not enough to wet the brittle, dry ground.

If you didn't know better, you'd think we were talking about today.

91-year-old Milton Woody remembers the last time we had dry conditions like these.

"'36 was a bad year," Woody said.

His family lived on a farm during the Dust Bowl in the 1930s.

"It was so hot, we slept outside on the ground at night, it helped keep cool," he said.

He said the weather is the same, but conditions aren't as bad, yet.

"What little crops they had will be far more than we had back in 1936," said Woody.

He revealed it was nearly impossible to make a living from farming during the 1930s.

"Farming was done with horses, they had no tractors or machinery so it was very hard on the animals too," stated Woody, comparing methods used then and now.

Thankfully, advances in machinery, equipment and technology make our conditions more manageable.

"We had no fans, no air conditioning, nothing like that," he reflected.

Currently, the Wabash Valley has still not received much relief from rain, and there doesn't appear to be any relief any time soon.

"The lord knows that, if it doesn't rain, yes, it'll be very similar; but, hopefully it'll rain before it gets that bad," Woody said.

"It's just like now, we hoped it wouldn't happen again, but that's Mother Nature, takes care of those things, and you just have to abide by them," he said.

We spoke to some other folks that lived during that time.

They said because they're older now and spend most of their time inside, it's difficult to say whether this summer is as bad as '36.

However, like the 1930s and other weather concerns, all anyone can do is wait for a change in the weather.