"Flooded N. Carolina Farms Are Likely Littered With Drowned Livestock"

"RALEIGH, N.C. — At least tens of thousands of chickens, hogs and other livestock are feared dead in floodwaters that washed over factory farms and towns in eastern North Carolina following Hurricane Matthew.

Conservationist organizations and government agencies that dispatched surveillance helicopters over Cumberland and Robinson counties on Tuesday reported that waters from swollen rivers and creeks had reached at least a half-dozen poultry houses and possibly some hog houses at animal feed operations.

Gov. Pat McCrory (R) said officials would work to quickly dispose of decaying animal carcasses that could contaminate waters and pose a potential public health threat. The state wants to avoid a repeat of the problems that followed Hurricane Floyd in 1999, when hundreds of bloated hog and chicken carcasses floated for days in floodwaters."

Kirk Ross and Darryl Fears report for the Washington Post October 11, 2016.