Georgia, the Carolinas and eastern Tennessee are facing severe damage from Category 4 Hurricane Helene that made landfall in Florida’s panhandle Thursday flattening crops, destroying infrastructure and taking more than 130 lives in the storm’s destructive path.
“Every commodity in the state has been damaged by the storm,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a news conference Saturday. He estimated the cost of damages from Helene will exceed those associated with Hurricane Michael in his state in 2018, potentially reaching $110 billion. 
Cotton plants destroyed by Hurricane Helene. (Photo: Georgia Cotton Commission)
Georgia Cotton Commission Executive Director Taylor Sills described the damages in an interview with Agri-Pulse as “truly devastating in a way that I don't think has been portrayed.”
Cotton harvest was just beginning in the Southeast. USDA's weekly Crop Progress Report estimated 6% of cotton was picked in Georgia, 1% in North Carolina and 10% in Tennessee.
“After a lot of these hurricanes, we immediately talk about commodity losses and infrastructure losses like this. We haven't gotten to that point yet,” Sills said. “Right now it's more about the humanitarian issue, to be frank.”
Up to $7 billion of crop liability was in the area of the storm, according to Robert Bonnie, USDA undersecretary for farm production and conservation on a Federal Emergency Management Agency call Tuesday.
He said "there will be short term impacts, and we also know that the impacts on farmer livelihoods will last for potentially years."
In North Carolina, areas across the southern Appalachian Mountains saw two feet of rain, according to the National Weather Service. Asheville was one of the hardest hit regions as high rainfall totals coupled with landslides led to widespread destructive flooding. Busick in the eastern part of the state received 30 inches of rain.
Linda Pryor's apples float in floodwaters near her orchard in Henderson County, North Carolina. Linda Pryor’s apple orchard in Henderson County south of Asheville flooded, leaving her close-to-harvest fruit floating in the floodwaters and roads impassable.
In Transylvania County, on the border of Georgia and South Carolina, agriculture teacher Sarah Clayton’s school barn flooded leaving cattle in standing water and facilities destroyed.
Sources in North Carolina said that damages still cannot be fully understood because many people still are without power and cell service, and may still be unable to travel.
The North Carolina State Climate Office described Hurricane Helene as a “close to a worst-case scenario for western North Carolina,” chronicling limitless moisture and high rainfall totals that led to the “most severe flooding ever observed across the region.”
Georgia corn farmer Herbert Daniel said main power transmission lines “are down for what looks like weeks.”
Nearly 500,000 rural electric cooperative customers are still left without power in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. It could take days, or even weeks for them to get it back, according to experts on a phone briefing organized by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Tuesday.
Sarah Clayton's cattle in standing water near her school in Transylvania County, North Carolina. The hurricane originally hit 1.25 million electrical users across Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and other parts of the South, though crews from across the country have been able to successfully restore some service.
Georgia electric co-ops had 166 distribution stations out at the peak of the storm, though only 39 remain out of order.
Daniel added that peanut infrastructure is a major problem because warehouses can’t unload the crop, and both pecan orchards and poultry houses are devastated.
Georgia Gov. Kemp said Saturday at least 107 poultry facilities were damaged or destroyed by the storm in his state alone.
The Moultrie, Ga., Wayne-Sanderson Farms poultry facility had power restored Tuesday afternoon, according to the company's Frank Singleton.
“Power outages at area farms are slowly being restored. Our field crews have been working to supply fuel for generators to keep them running,” he told Agri-Pulse. “The Dobson, N.C., area has had some flooding and road closures impacting farms, but we are operational at the plant.”
A spokesperson for Tyson Foods said Hurricane Helene “caused minimal damage” to its facilities and “has not impeded our ability to continue producing food.” The company is now supporting communities by serving warm meals.
A majority of Georgia’s pecans are grown in Albany and Doug
Georgia pecan tree damage. (Photo: Georgia Farm Bureau)herty counties, known as the pecan capital of the world. Both counties were in the direct storm path destroying trees and breaking limbs lined with heavy, hanging pecans close to harvest.
Georgia’s pecan production was cut almost in half after Hurricane Michael in 2018. It’s likely too early to determine a loss estimate, but when discussing crop insurance payouts on a FEMA call Tuesday, Bonnie noted that “lots of pecans” in Georgia were affected.
While USDA does not offer insurance for timber, Bonnie said, “there's a lot of timber on the ground, and the challenge when you get a storm like this is it's hard to market the timber, and markets tend to be flooded. Prices tend to be low. There's significant losses in timber.”
The Tennessee Farm Bureau shared images of their producers’ damage, including flattened cornfields, flooded fields and damaged roads.
A portion of Interstate 40 near the Tennessee-North Carolina border and a handful of bridges were washed away, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Five bridges in the state are considered completely gone and beyond repair that will need to be rebuilt.
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Crops in some areas of Tennessee, along with all affected states, are flattened, creating an even more serious economic challenge.
“All of our commodities in Georgia and everything else were depressed” in price, Sills said. “I would venture to guess that every acre of cotton in Georgia, all 1.1 million of them, we’re gonna lose money this year, now that situation has really ramped up.”
“All people have been behind the eight ball all year, and now it’s right on top of them,” Sills added.
Farmers are encouraged to document all losses before, during and after cleanup to assist in the process of issuing insurance and aid payments, according to University of Georgia Extension. They should also track their financial records. 
Corn underwater in North Carolina. (Photo: North Carolina Farm Bureau)
On the FEMA call, Bonnie encouraged farmers to reach out to the Farm Service Agency (877-508-8364) call center, especially if their local USDA office is closed due to power outages or destruction.
House Ag Committee member Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., and Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., along with Georgia’s entire congressional delegation and 34 lawmakers from southeastern states, signed a letter urging congressional leadership to collaborate with the Biden Administration to ensure disaster relief is available to farmers and growers following the storm.
“Helene delivered a devastating blow to our state’s number-one industry,” Scott told Agri-Pulse. “Agriculture is the main economic driver of most southeastern rural communities, and I’m thankful for all lawmakers who joined Senator Ossoff and me in sending this bipartisan, bicameral letter to leadership.”
North Carolina Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., a member of the House Agriculture, and Transportation and Infrastructure committees, wrote on X that the “port strike could cripple
Fields underwater in eastern Tennessee. (Photo: Tennessee Farm Bureau) response and recovery efforts,” as the Southeast is responding to hurricane damage.
Georgia Cotton Commission's Sills said, “Let me put it this way: We were going to have people go out of business in 2024 without the hurricane because of the economic pressure.
“What our producers need is help, and help now.”
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