FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – As Hurricane Dorian passed through the Carolinas, farmers are now trying to save their crops that were damaged from the heavy winds and rain.
“When Hurricane Florence came through the crops were more mature, the cotton was open and the peanut was on top of the ground, but it dumped a lot more rain and wind,” said Dupree Atkinson, farmer in Marion County.
“We’re waiting to see if there was salt intrusion that came from the ocean, so we’re kinda waiting until the first of the week to see if we can still harvest it,” said Atkinson.
While farmers continue to wait and see what the exact loss was, Atkinson gave News 13 Briana Fernandez a tour of his fields and showed the damages that Dorian left behind.
“They’re supposed to be light green and a lot of those were bruised from the wind and they’ll turn dark and they’ll be unmarketable,” said Atkinson.
Even with the losses, farmers said it could’ve been a lot worse for them.
“Florence was pretty tough, and Matthew was tough and you know in between Florence came Michael, so it’s pretty disheartening but farmers are optimistic,” said Atkinson.
