Where our Attention Should be Focused

On Sept. 7, 2018, the Governors of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland declared a state of emergency following reports of a tropical cyclone heading towards the North Carolina shoreline. Over the course of two weeks, the storm, later dubbed Hurricane Florence, would reach wind speeds of 140 mph and take the lives of more than 48 people while leaving $38 to $50 billion worth of damages in its wake.

Florence, listed as a Category 4 hurricane, originated as a tropical depression near Cape Verde in Africa in late August. The storm intensified as it neared Bermuda on Sept. 10. Before reaching the shoreline, wind shear, a variation in wind velocity, diminished the storms force. As Florence rolled into North Carolina, it degraded into a tropical storm, but the heart of the storm stalled on the Eastern Coastline of North Carolina, amplifying its effect. Indeed, rainfall reached up to 35.93 inches in counties of North Carolina and 1-minute wind speeds hit a staggering 140 mph. As the storm proceeded further inland, its force weakened again until it precipitated into heavy rainfall over West Virginia.

While survivors of the Hurricane have felt the storm’s effect locally, Florence’s impact is widespread. “My mom evacuated. I believe it was a mandatory evacuation from my county, but some people stayed,” said lower Chris Suhr, who is from Hampstead, North Carolina. Hampstead is a neighboring town of Wilmington, a popular port city. Home to a large stretch of Eastern Atlantic shoreline, Hampstead is one of the places that Florence hit the hardest. Despite mandatory evacuation warnings, Suhr’s neighbors were of the few who stayed behind. His neighbor claims, “they would never stay, ever again,” after their house was shaking so loudly that “she was scared she was going to die.” Unfortunately for residents, this is not the first major storm to come crashing into North Carolina.

In 1999, Hurricane Floyd struck North Carolina. The storm spanned two weeks and was similar in magnitude to Florence. The accumulation of rainfall presented a problem for factory farmers in North Carolina as their hog-waste lagoons––heaps of pig waste––overflowed. Waste lagoons are a popular option for farmers because they represent a relatively cheap and efficient way to produce natural fertilizer for crops. However, flooding from Floyd left in its wake small contaminated ponds with a muddy-pinkish glow illuminated by the sun. Streams created by the widespread flooding left tens of millions of gallons of mud full of substances that raise nitrogen and phosphorus levels in coastal rivers.

Now, nearly 20 years after the disastrous contamination of rivers in North Carolina, officials were worried about similar widespread flooding. As concern for rampant flooding during Hurricane Florence grew, farmers in North Carolina attempted to drain waste pools before the storm hit. Acting quickly, farmers managed to prevent up to three feet of rain from eroding the walls of their lagoons. Alas, an estimated 132 hog-waste lagoons overflew during the storm. Worse yet, roughly 5,500 hogs have died as well as 3 million chickens. Kemp Burdette of the Cape Fear Riverkeeper, a non-profit organization working to protect the waters of the Lower Cape Fear River Basin in Eastern North Carolina, maintains that pig-waste sludge from lagoons “is going to end up in homes, schools and churches” and there is “no way to get the sludge out.” This outbreak will affect communities for years.