Last year, Texas was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey. Harvey reigned over Houston with an iron fist. It flooded most of the city, and effected other parts of Texas. It flooded most of Houston. Then hurricane Irma came through. That hurricane devastated the island of Puerto Rico. It left the island without electricity and lots of supplies for months, some parts of the island still doesn’t any have power. But just recently a new hurricane has come through and caused mass destruction. Enter Hurricane Florence.

Hurricane Florence built up in the Atlantic ocean for quite some time. It threatened the livelihoods of people who live in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. As of September 12, the storm was a category four, but the next day it was reduced to a category four, then downgraded to a mere category two. It was set to land on Saturday, September 15 but it landed the day before. Both Carolinas were under a state of emergency. But that same Friday, the hurricane became a tropical storm after falling to a category one.

Because of the hurricane, a new problem emerged. The water supply might be poisoned by the storm. Three of North Carolina’s top industries create tons of toxic waste. The manure from pigs and ash from coal are stored is in open air pits. Once the hurricane comes, it’ll most likely carry these toxins into the water supply. This will infest the area’s water for years. On top of that, there are six nuclear plants in North Carolina, one right near the coast. This too will poison the water. But now after the hurricane, the city of New Bern, North Carolina assures that the water is fine and the crisis was adverted.

In all 17 inches of rain fell onto the Carolinas. The water crisis was adverted but there’s still a ton of water. A lot of people can’t leave their homes because of it. Rescues are happening all the time right now.

As of Tuesday the death toll was 35. The damage will take years, maybe even decades, for the Carolinas to be fully recovered. And much like with Hurricane Harvey, the storm has ended but it’s effects are devastating and will last for a long time.