Faith Kearns has a smart look at an under-covered piece of the problem of drought – the psychology of waiting:

[W]hile waiting for uncertain news, people often focus on preparing—emotionally and logistically—for any possible outcome. People tend to shift between optimism and pessimism, and both states can help increase readiness. Optimism engenders people to take preparative, proactive actions, and pessimism helps people to prepare by protecting themselves psychologically from worst-case scenarios.

Click through for some useful ideas about how to wait well.