Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

DISASTERS

AP PHOTOS: California neighbors fill buckets, pray for rain as wells go dry in harsh drought

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • b4658ae2-
    Image 1 of 3

    In this July 1, 2015 photo, Jeff Smith, center, listens with other members of the community of Okieville as they meet to hear plans on confronting the drought on the outskirts of Tulare, Calif. As more wells run dry in Okieville, a growing concern is uniting neighbors on the idea something must be done. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) (The Associated Press)

  • 2b07f4a3-
    Image 2 of 3

    In this July 1, 2015 photo, Maria Herrera of Self-Help Enterprises, left, leads a meeting of members of the community of Okieville on plans to confront the drought on the outskirts of Tulare, Calif. "We have a lot of important items to talk about tonight," began Herrera. She switched between English and Spanish as about 50 people, the largest crowd yet, settled into folding chairs, benches and barstools in Maria Marquez's dirt yard. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) (The Associated Press)

  • a974add4-
    Image 3 of 3

    In this July 2, 2015 photo, a man rides a bike down one of the dirt roads of the community of Okieville, on the outskirts of Tulare, Calif. Here, 100 modest homes share narrow, cracked streets without sidewalks, stop lights or streetlights in the arid southeast corner of California's Central Valley. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) (The Associated Press)

OKIEVILLE, Calif. – People living in this dusty neighborhood called Okieville at the heart of California's Central Valley know the harsh reality of drought. Many of their wells have dried up, so some neighbors rig lines from house to house to share water from the remaining wells deep enough to hit water. Others benefit from state drought relief that pays for trucked-in water to fill tanks.

Miles of the nation's most productive farms surround Okieville — a neighborhood of about 100 homes named for refugees who came west from Oklahoma during the 1930s Dust Bowl — but many residents come home at night after working in the fields and wonder if they'll be able to take a shower or flush their toilet.

Despite these challenges, people in Okieville are proud to call it home. Rather than moving out, they're coming together.

___

Associated Press photographers and photo editors on Twitter: http://apne.ws/150o6jo