Thousands of dead fish wash ashore — onto highway
N.C. floodwaters leave carcasses
The Washington Post
Even as the water from Hurricane Florence and the flooding that followed finally began to recede, it left behind a poignant — and pungent — reminder of the powerful storm that overwhelmed the Carolinas and turned roads to rivers.
Thousands of dead and dying fish littered Interstate 40 in North Carolina over the weekend, stranded there as floodwaters ebbed. Just days before, that same stretch of highway in Pender County had been submerged, and people traveled along it in boats.
“It dumped 30 inches of water in our immediate area, which is why you saw the intense flooding that caused these fish to be in places they shouldn’t have been,” said Samantha Hardison, a volunteer firefighter at the Penderlea Fire Department, which was tasked with clearing the fish off part of the key highway.
Some of the carcasses were quite large, Ms. Hardison said — “the size of a man’s thigh” — and would have posed a threat to drivers as the road began to reopen.
The department used a fire hose for the job.
“Well, we can add ‘washing fish off of the interstate’ to the long list of interesting things firefighters get to experience,” Ms. Hardison wrote in a post to the department’s Facebook page Saturday. “Hurricane Florence caused massive flooding in our area and allowed the fish to travel far from their natural habitat, stranding them on the interstate when waters receded.”
When the firefighters arrived, they couldn’t quite tell what was shimmering on the asphalt, Ms. Hardison said.
“When we pulled up on it, it almost looked like a mirage,” she said. “You knew something was on the road, but you couldn’t tell until you pulled up on it.”
And then, there was no mistaking the sight — or the smell.
“It was insane,” Ms. Hardison said. “There were thousands.”
No one at the fire department could remember anything like it from past storms and floods, she said.
“When the chief got the call, he was like, ‘Wait, are you serious? You’re kidding, right?,’” Ms. Hardison said.
The firefighters cleared just a portion of the highway by hose, calling in the state transportation department to finish the job with different equipment.
But video of the department’s effort, posted to social media, had racked up more than a half million views by Sunday morning. It was one of several posts shared over the weekend that highlighted the mass fish fatalities. A second video showed fish strewn across both sides of the highway and one caught in a fence. One transportation department employee also posted grisly photos of the scene on Interstate 40. In a comment, someone described the “horrible decaying flesh smell.”
Another user wrote that the die-off is sad, but it is a sign of progress.
“Thank god water is receding,” the commenter said. “It’s been a long few weeks. Before and after hurricane. Lots of loss for so many down here.”
More than 40 people have died since Hurricane Florence made landfall about 10 days ago, bringing with it high winds and heavy rains that downed trees and swamped towns. The storm forced road and school closures across the coastal Southeast and has caused tens of billions of dollars in damage.
For Carolinians, the images were yet another display of the unique devastation Florence wrought, causing many to ask a frightening question: In the coming days, as water continues to recede, what else will it leave behind?
That question was raised as more than a week after Florence made landfall, thousands of coastal residents were told Sunday that they may need to leave their homes because of still-rising rivers.
About 6,000 to 8,000 people in Georgetown County, S.C., were told to prepare to evacuate ahead of a “record event” of up to 10 feet of flooding expected because of heavy rains dumped by Florence, county spokeswoman Jackie BroachAkers said. She said the flooding is expected to start Tuesday near parts of the Pee Dee and Waccamaw rivers and people in the potential flood zones should plan to leave their homes Monday.
In North Carolina, five river gauges were still at major flood stage and five others were at moderate flood stage, according to the National Weather Service. The Cape Fear River was expected to crest and remain at flood stage through the early part of the week, and parts of Interstates 95 and 40 are expected to remain underwater for another week or more.
“Hurricane Florence has deeply wounded our state, wounds that will not fade soon as the flood waters finally recede,” Gov. Roy Cooper said Saturday. The storm claimed least 43 lives since slamming into the coast Sept. 14.
North Carolina emergency-management director Michael Sprayberry said that eastern counties continue to see major flooding, including areas along the Black, Lumber, Neuse and Cape Fear rivers.
He said residents who register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency can begin moving into hotels Monday. The program initially will be open to residents in nine counties and then will be expanded. A FEMA coordinator said about 69,000 people from North Carolina already have registered for assistance.
On the Outer Banks, at least three wild horse herds survived Florence, but caretakers were still trying to account for one herd living on a hard-hit barrier island, the News & Observer reported Sunday. Staff members are planning to make trips to the island this week to check on the Shackleford Banks herd.