Read Faith Central on prayers for rain

Faced with the worst drought in 100 years, a US governor called on the ultimate authority for help yesterday: he held a public prayer vigil and asked God for rain.

Sonny Perdue, the Governor of Georgia, where the capital city, Atlanta, is less than four months from running dry, gathered on the steps of the state capitol with other politicians and called on the Lord to open up the heavens.

It was the latest and most extreme attempt to end a record-breaking drought that is afflicting the southeast of America, killing crops, draining reservoirs and drying up rivers.

Before a large crowd, Mr Perdue closed his eyes in prayer and asked all of Georgia to join him in asking God to give the state the blessing of rain.

Some experts say that the main source of water for the greater Atlanta region, Lake Lanier, could be drained in as little as 70 days. Further north, in Silver City, North Carolina, officials say that they are 60 days from draining their water source, the Lower Rocky River Reservoir.

North Georgia has had the driest year on record. Mr Perdue’s prayer vigil has drawn criticism, and not just from those who say it crosses the divide between Church and state. Many believe that he and other officials across the southeast have been far too slow to respond to the drought.

Despite months of warnings, golf courses across the region have remained watered and lush. Only in September did Georgia ban outdoor water use. In October Mr Perdue declared “Take a Shorter Shower Month”, although in summer, a year after the drought began, prisoners were still getting two showers a day.

Last month Mr Perdue finally declared a state of emergency and asked the Bush Administration for federal help. But he has not asked companies to cut back on water use - in particular Coca-Cola, which has its headquarters in Atlanta and whose main ingredient is water.

Mr Perdue, a Baptist, is hoping that his prayers will be answered like those of a predecessor, former Georgia Governor Joe Frank Harris. In 1986, during another drought, he sent out a proclamation asking Georgians to pray for rain. Hundreds of congregations appealed to God for a change in the weather. The following week, it began to rain – and it stayed wet for weeks.

Two weeks ago a gospel concert at an Atlanta church dedicated to rain attracted hundreds. “We need a different approach,” said Rocky Twyman, who organised the concert. “We need to call on God, because what we’re doing isn’t working.” Mr Perdue has some good political company in asking for Divine intervention.

In May John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia, asked churchgoers to pray for rain amid a drought that has devastated crops and bankrupted farmers. In July the Governor of Alabama, Bob Riley, declared a week in July as “Days of Prayer for Rain”.