Stay Home

Please don't move to Florida. Though we're surrounded by water we have no water. Our largest source of drinking water, Lake Okeechobee is at record lows and as a bonus is burning.

Signaling the intensity of this once-a-century drought, roiling smoke clouds rose from exposed stretches of the saucerlike 730-square-mile basin midway between the crowded coasts. The plumes came from wildfires sweeping a 12,000-acre stretch of lakebed exposed as the waters retreated and sank about half an inch a day, water officials said.

The flames fed on weeds and grasses that normally provide hiding places for bass, but are now baked by the sun and dehydrated by relentless winds.

Officials at the South Florida Water Management District said the average lake depth on Wednesday matched the record low of 8.97 feet set in a long drought in 2001 and would certainly break the record overnight.

So, please, stay where you are. We have enough golf courses, pools, and water parks for you to enjoy your visit. Just drink bottled water.