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We have seen dramatic floods across the Carolinas after Hurricane Florence. It puts all this water in perspective.
USA TODAY & # 39; HUI
The chicken farms are flooded with floods from Hurricane Florence near Trenton, North Carolina.(Photo: AP Photo / Steve Helber)
According to a major poultry producer, at least 1.7 million chickens died in the floods caused by Hurricane Florence.
Chickens died in 60 farm buildings on independent farms in North Carolina, Sanderson Farms reported on Monday. The number of chickens killed by floods could continue to rise, according to the company.
About six million additional chickens were isolated by floods on 30 farms, the company said. If feed trucks fail to reach affected farms, more chickens could die as a result of flooding.
Chickens were bred for market on farms that supply the company's poultry processing plants
The company said Florence would lead to short-term supply disruptions, but said its facilities did not show any major damage.
More: The man goes through the flood for love and cigarettes
More: Hurricane Florence is responsible for at least 35 deaths
North Carolina is a major poultry producer, ranking fourth in the country for broiler production, according to 2017 figures from the US Department of Agriculture. Boilers are chickens bred for meat production.
North Carolina has harvested more than 800 million broilers in 2017, according to USDA records.
The county with the largest population of chickens: Duplin County, ravaged by floods. On Saturday, a town in Duplin County was cut off by floods.
Florence and the floods that followed closed more than 100 roads and cut power to nearly 500,000 homes and businesses. More than 30 people in the Carolinas died because of the storm.
The overall cost of agriculture is still unknown. Hog production is another important industry in the state, but the BC Hog Council says mortality figures are not yet available.
Contributors: John Bacon and Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY & HU; The Associated Press.
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