Severe drought in central and eastern China

NBC News — A severe drought in central and eastern China is turning lakes into expanses of mud. Boats have been stranded and fish in farms have died. The drought is threatening the livelihoods of people who live in Hubei Province. One lake has shrunk to less than 13 percent of its usual water level.

Chinese state television reported the deepest part of the lake is now only about two-feet deep. The lake is usually about five feet deep and covers 134 square miles at this time of year. Local authorities have relocated more than 32 hundred people who live near the lake, which is separated from the Yangtze River by a strip of land.