Hurricane Matthew caused widespread damage and destruction to the Carolinas after making landfall in South Carolina back in
2016, devastating South Carolina's peanut crop as well as its cotton and soybeans. The 2016 storm also was blamed for killing more than 200,000 chickens.
"Matthew was the worst thing I ever lived through as far as natural disasters," said Ott.
"We called it a '1,000-year flood' during Matthew, so I hope we don't get another one of those."
About 50 percent of the tobacco produced in the U.S. comes from North Carolina. The tobacco production alone represented about $724 million to the state's economy last year.
"We probably still have 50 percent of our tobacco in the field," said Wooten. "When you get 40, 50 and 60 mph winds, that tobacco will basically be done. What's not blown off will be rendered useless."
Wooten said farmers are "feverishly trying to get tobacco into barns. But when they get it into barns, they are still not through, because it's important that you have air to dry that tobacco."
Virginia also has tobacco still being harvested and could get heavy rainfall from Hurricane Florence. As of last week, only 65 percent of the flue-cured tobacco was harvested in the state, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Tobacco in bulk-curing barns requires a constant supply of electrical power, so Wooten said farmers are getting back-up generators ready since there's a good chance power could go down due to the storm.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/12/fro...e-in-the-bulls-eye-of-hurricane-florence.html
