3.4 Million Chickens, Thousands of Pigs Dead in North Carolina Following Hurricane Florence
Hurricane Florence and its devastating aftermath killed 3.4 million chickens and turkeys and 5,500 hogs — and the farm animal death toll is expected to rise, reports News and Observer.
The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services told the paper that many farms prepared for the storm by moving animals to higher ground, but underestimated the strength of Hurricane Florence’s storm surge and flood waters.
Most of the animal killed by the storm drowned or were affected by wind damage to farm structures.
The death toll is expected to rise since there are still farms that have not reported their damages, as they have no power or are unreachable due to floodwaters.
According to CNN, one of the largest poultry farms in the country, Sanderson Farms, had many of the chicken deaths. The North Carolina company lost 1.7 million chickens, but does not expect it to affect production, since there are more than 20 million chickens spread across the company’s farms.
