Churchgoers Pray for Rain, Get Some

As tons of donated hay were loaded aboard trains Sunday to be hauled to the drought-stricken Southeast, churchgoers prayed for rain to soak their fields and fill wells and dried-up reservoirs.

Within hours of the prayers, severe thunderstorms were reported in several cities in north Georgia, as were marble-sized hail and wind gusts of 74 m.p.h. Scattered showers and heavy thunderstorms also were reported in parts of south Georgia and much of north Florida.

But rainfall in much of the region remains 10 inches to 20 inches below normal this year, the National Weather Service said.

Sunday was declared a day of prayer for rain in Georgia by Gov. Joe Frank Harris.

“This will help us to understand that rain can only come from above,” said the Rev. E. J. Chester Sr., pastor of the First Baptist Church in southeastern Atlanta, as churches of various denominations around the state honored the governor’s request.

Volunteers in Indianapolis finished loading about 1,800 tons of hay Sunday on an 80-boxcar CSX Corp. train headed for Columbia, S.C. The hay, donated by 128 farmers in 50 Indiana counties, was valued at $145,000. About 700 bales of hay were loaded onto a Federal Express jet by National Guard volunteers in Boston and flown to Charleston, S.C.