The Southeast's climate provides more than just hurricanes during the hot summer months - humidity is also in abundant supply. And now companies are producing machines - water generators - that pull the humidity from the air and turn it into drinking water (which is in scarce supply following a hurricane).
The biggest machines can make 5,000 liters of water a day, enough to provide about a gallon to 1,250 people. Small units cost several hundred dollars, while bigger, more elaborate machines can go for as much as half a million.
Scientists who study water shortages say that while the technique works and could be part of the solution, there are cheaper and easier ways to provide water purification - namely boiling it to remove microbes or treating it with chemicals like chlorine. The biggest obstacle to the water generators is that they require fuel to run, which is also in short supply after a hurricane. (Most are powered by diesel fuel.)
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