In the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, crews in North Carolina are now facing a unique cleanup challenge: dead fish along a highway.

Since flooding overwhelmed many roads, including I-40, many fish were left stranded on the asphalt as waters receded, according to the Penderlea Fire Department in North Carolina.

“Well, we can add ‘washing fish off of the interstate' to the long list of interesting things firefighters get to experience!” the fire department wrote in a Facebook post Saturday.

Photos and video posted by the department showed countless dead fish along the highway, which connects Wilmington and Raleigh. Firefighters used hoses to spray the fish off the road.

According to one Facebook comment, the dead fish created quite a smell on that portion of the interstate.

Commenter Aleksandr Gruzinskaya said the odor was a “horrible decaying flesh smell.”

Floods due to Florence became “catastrophic” and completely shut down major highways in the state. Drone footage posted by the North Carolina Department of Transportation showed I-40 looking more like a river than a highway.

This drove fish out of their natural habitat, isolating them as cleanup began.

﻿Related:</s>Firefighters in North Carolina had an unusual job this weekend -- washing dead fish off an interstate.

A stretch of Intestate 40 in Pender County, North Carolina, was inundated by flooding caused by Hurricane Florence earlier this month.

The Penderlea Fire Department uploaded video to Facebook on Saturday of the spray down, which has been shared more than 16,000 times.

Firefighters said flooding allowed the fish to travel far from their natural habitat and stranded them on the interstate.</s>A North Carolina fire department was tasked with cleaning masses of dead fish off a major interstate of over the weekend.The fish were stranded on Interstate 40 after floodwaters from Hurricane Florence receded.The Penderlea County Fire Department said the cleanup effort took place near Wallace, North Carolina.</s>North Carolina fire fighters had to hose down Interstate 40 after Hurricane Florence pushed fish out of the ocean and onto the highway. USA TODAY</s>Even as the water from hurricane Florence and the flooding that followed finally began to recede, it left behind a poignant — and pungent — reminder of the powerful storm that overwhelmed the Carolinas and turned roads to rivers.

Thousands of dead and dying fish littered Interstate 40 in North Carolina over the weekend, stranded there as floodwaters ebbed. Just days before, that same stretch of highway in Pender County had been submerged, and people traveled along it in boats.

“It dumped 30 inches of water in our immediate area, which is why you saw the intense flooding that caused these fish to be in places they shouldn’t have been,” said Samantha Hardison, a volunteer firefighter at the Penderlea Fire Department, which was tasked with clearing the fish off part of the key highway.

Some of the carcasses were quite large, Hardison said — “the size of a man’s thigh” — and would have posed a threat to drivers as the road began to reopen.

The department used a fire hose for the job.

“Well, we can add ‘washing fish off of the interstate’ to the long list of interesting things firefighters get to experience,” Hardison wrote in a post to the department’s Facebook page Saturday. “Hurricane Florence caused massive flooding in our area and allowed the fish to travel far from their natural habitat, stranding them on the interstate when waters receded.”

When the firefighters arrived, they couldn’t quite tell what was shimmering on the asphalt, Hardison said.

“When we pulled up on it, it almost looked like a mirage,” she said. “You knew something was on the road, but you couldn’t tell until you pulled up on it.”

And then, there was no mistaking the sight — or the smell.

“It was insane,” Hardison said. “There were thousands.”

No one at the fire department could remember anything like it from past storms and floods, she said.

“When the chief got the call, he was like, ‘Wait, are you serious? You’re kidding right?,’ ” Hardison said.

The firefighters cleared just a portion of the highway by hose, calling in the state transportation department to finish the job with different equipment.

But video of the department’s effort, posted to social media, had racked up more than a half million views by Sunday morning. It was one of several posts shared over the weekend that highlighted the mass fish fatalities. A second video showed fish strewn across both sides of the highway and one caught in a fence. One transportation department employee also posted grisly photos of the scene on Interstate 40. In a comment, someone described the “horrible decaying flesh smell.”
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Another user wrote that the die-off is sad, but it is a sign of progress.

“Thank god water is receding,” the commenter said. “It’s been a long few weeks. Before and after hurricane. Lots of loss for so many down here.”

More than 40 people have died since hurricane Florence made landfall about 10 days ago, bringing with it high winds and heavy rains that downed trees and swamped towns. The storm forced road and school closures across the coastal Southeast and has caused tens of billions of dollars in damage.

For Carolinians, the images were yet another display of the unique devastation Florence wrought, causing many to ask a frightening question: In the coming days, as water continues to recede, what else will it leave behind?</s>Floodwaters from Hurricane Florence are leaving quite a fishy situation in North Carolina.

As floodwaters from the hurricane begin to recede more a week after the storm made landfall, first responders on Saturday came across hundreds of dead fish on a stretch of Interstate 40 that had been hit hard by flooding.

"Well, we can add 'washing fish off of the interstate' to the long list of interesting things firefighters get to experience!" the Penderlea Fire Department said in a Facebook post.

The fish were discovered along a stretch of the interstate near Wallace, located about 40 miles northwest of Wilmington, where the storm made landfall.

"Hurricane Florence caused massive flooding in our area and allowed the fish to travel far from their natural habitat, stranding them on the interstate when waters receded," the fire department said.

An employee from the North Carolina Department of Transportation also posted pictures, showing the fish strewn along the shoulder of the highway.

On Saturday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said nine of the state's river gauges are at major flood stage and four others are at moderate stage, while parts of Interstates 95 and 40 will remain under water for another week or more.

Emergency management officials said residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed will begin moving into hotel rooms next week. A FEMA coordinator told the Associated Press that as of Saturday, about 69,000 people from North Carolina have registered for assistance.

The storm has claimed at least 43 lives since slamming the region with prolonged, heavy rainfall.

"Hurricane Florence has deeply wounded our state, wounds that will not fade soon as the flood waters finally recede," Cooper said.

FLORENCE DEATH TOLL RISES TO 43 AS FLOODS WREAK HAVOC IN CAROLINAS

In Wilmington, which had been cut off by floodwaters, officials said they have identified three safe routes into town. They encouraged people to avoid travel in areas where the risk of flooding remains.

North Carolina Emergency Management Director Michael Sprayberry said Saturday that eastern counties continue to see major flooding, including areas along the Black, Lumber, Neuse and Cape Fear rivers. The Cape Fear river is expected to crest Sunday and remain at flood stage through early next week.

In neighboring South Carolina, new evacuations were ordered as the town of Nichols was completely inundated by water. Mayor Lawson Batter told the AP that the storm was "worse than Matthew," which destroyed almost 90 percent of the town's 261 homes in 2016.

"It's just a mess," he said. "We will try everything we can to come back ... but we need to have federal and state help."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>Washington: Even as the water from Hurricane Florence and the flooding that followed finally began to recede, it left behind a poignant - and pungent - reminder of the powerful storm that overwhelmed the region and turned roads to rivers.

Thousands of dead and dying fish littered Interstate 40 in North Carolina over the weekend, stranded there as floodwaters ebbed. Just days before, that same stretch of highway in Pender County had been submerged, and people travelled along it in boats.

"It dumped 30 inches [76 centimetres] of water in our immediate area, which is why you saw the intense flooding that caused these fish to be in places they shouldn't have been," said Samantha Hardison, a volunteer firefighter at the Penderlea Fire Department, which was tasked with clearing the fish off part of the key highway.

Some of the carcasses were quite large, Hardison said - "the size of a man's thigh" - and would have posed a threat to drivers as the road began to reopen.</s>North Carolina fire crews hosing down Interstate 40 after floodwaters receded found a stunning discovery: Dead fish scattered across the highway.

The flooding from the deadly Hurricane Florence pushed the fish from their natural habitat and stranded them on the interstate, the Penderlea Fire Department posted on Facebook on Saturday.

“Well, we can add ‘washing fish off of the interstate’ to the long list of interesting things firefighters get to experience!” it said.

At least 44 people have died since the hurricane slammed the Carolinas, sending rivers overflowing into neighborhoods and roadways.

While the rain has subsided, some rivers are still rising, and North and South Carolina officials warn the flooding danger is far from over.

Last week, drone video captured how flooding from the storm transformed part of I-40 from a highway into a waterway. In the video taken as part of the state’s damage assessment, a section of the highway is completely underwater.

More than a week after Hurricane Florence made landfall, the trillions of gallons of water it dumped over the Carolinas are slowly moving toward the sea, leaving a path of destruction. Residential streets have turned into rivers, and freeways have morphed into waterways.</s>This is one fish tale nobody in North Carolina will be bragging about.

Firefighters from the town of Penderlea, in the southeastern part of the state, have been hosing off fish carcasses from Interstate 40 and onto the side of the road to prevent vehicles from skidding while running over them.

The massive storm surge and river flooding from Hurricane Florence brought untold amounts of fish out of their natural habitat, and the receding waters left thousands of them to die on some of the state’s roadways.

“Well, we can add 'washing fish off of the interstate' to the long list of interesting things firefighters get to experience!’’ the Penderlea Fire Department posted on its Facebook page, along with video and photos of the dead fish on the road and a crew using power-washing equipment.

The posting drew more than 1,200 comments, with some warning of the terrible stench the fish remains would create, and others remarking on the feast awaiting birds of prey.

The fire department responded, “This was done for the safety of motorists since some of the fish were actually quite large and could be dangerous if hit, or if swerved around.

“Be sure to keep your windows closed and air on circulate, we will be!”

Besides causing 43 human deaths in the Carolinas, Hurricane Florence has had a catastrophic impact on livestock. The North Carolina Department of Agriculture estimated 3.4 million chickens and turkeys and 5,500 hogs had drowned, and the numbers are likely to climb.</s>Even as the water from Hurricane Florence and the flooding that followed finally began to recede, it left behind a poignant - and pungent - reminder of the powerful storm that overwhelmed the Carolinas and turned roads to rivers.

Thousands of dead and dying fish littered Interstate 40 in North Carolina over the weekend, stranded there as floodwaters ebbed. Just days before, that same stretch of highway in Pender County had been submerged, and people traveled along it in boats.

"It dumped 30 inches of water in our immediate area, which is why you saw the intense flooding that caused these fish to be in places they shouldn't have been," said Samantha Hardison, a volunteer firefighter at the Penderlea Fire Department, which was tasked with clearing the fish off part of the key highway.

Some of the carcasses were quite large, Hardison said - "the size of a man's thigh" - and would have posed a threat to drivers as the road began to reopen.

The department used a fire hose for the job.

"Well, we can add 'washing fish off of the interstate' to the long list of interesting things firefighters get to experience," Hardison wrote in a post to the department's Facebook page Saturday. "Hurricane Florence caused massive flooding in our area and allowed the fish to travel far from their natural habitat, stranding them on the interstate when waters receded."

When the firefighters arrived, they couldn't quite tell what was shimmering on the asphalt, Hardison said.

"When we pulled up on it, it almost looked like a mirage," she said. "You knew something was on the road, but you couldn't tell until you pulled up on it."

And then, there was no mistaking the sight - or the smell.

"It was insane," Hardison said. "There were thousands."
Firefighters remove dead fish from Interstate 40 in Pender County, North Carolina as water from Hurricane Florence recedes.