News

Snapshot of Environmental & Community Impacts of Hurricane Florence

• $17 billion in estimated damages
• 750,000 evacuated
• 35.93 inches of rain in Elizabethtown- new NC record
• 86 inches of rain in 2018 for Wilmington, breaking an 1877 record for annual rainfall
• 25.8 ft – Third highest crest recorded on Neuse River at Kinston
• 61.4 ft- Cape Fear River crest at Fayetteville- new record
• Millions of gallons of sewage spilled from municipal sites across eastern NC
• 6 hog waste pits that breached, spilling waste and sludge
• 32 hog waste pits flooded, spilling liquid waste
• 9 additional waste pits flooded, unclear if waste spilled
• 5,500 hogs killed- reported by hog industry
• 3.4 million poultry killed – reported by poultry industry
• 62 hog facilities located in 100 year floodplain in NC
• 186 mirograms/liter of arsenic – Found in Neuse River floodwaters near coal ash spill site. 18 times higher than safe drinking water standard