Droughts and dustbowls USA: 1939

Over the 1930s, the United States experiences the longest dry spell in the nation's history. The 1939 drought badly affects an already suffering rural population.

By the beginning of 1930s, American farmers' share of the national income had shrunk by nearly half. From the Great Plains to the Mississippi valley, they were facing decreasing yield per acre, overgrazing, flooding, deforestation and drought. 1939 is another disastrous dry spell. Farmers walk off their land as once-productive farms turn into dustbowls.

Reuters: news footage with sound effects and British commentary added later.

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