Parched Caribbean faces withering crops, dying cattle

The worst drought in five years is creeping across the Caribbean, prompting officials around the region to brace for a bone-dry summer.

From Puerto Rico to Cuba to the eastern Caribbean island of St. Lucia, crops are withering, reservoirs are drying up and cattle are dying while forecasters worry that the situation could only grow worse in the coming months.

Thanks to El Nino, a warming of the tropical Pacific that affects global weather, and a quieter-than-normal hurricane season that began in June, forecasters expect a shorter wet season. That means less rain to help refill Puerto Rico's thirsty Carraizo and La Plata reservoirs, as well as the La Plata river in the central island community of Naranjito. A tropical disturbance that hit the US territory on Monday did not fill up those reservoirs as officials had anticipated.