The wind was not as bad as it could have been and the storm surge also could have been worse, but the rain, the rain has been really bad. It is the rain that has turned Florence into a long, slowly evolving disaster with a few rivers still waiting to crest within the disaster zone.
The flooding has created a toxic stew of dead animals and manure from large industrial-sized chicken and hog operations. Not to mention the more typical combination of hazardous chemicals flooding out of businesses and home garages.
The cleanup has only begun, and the lingering impacts will be felt for months, if not years. All of the above are secondary impacts of the floodwaters and the damages that they bring to property and people.
Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.
