Firefighters in North Carolina put their hoses to a different use over the weekend, spraying hundreds of dead fish off a portion of an interstate near the town of Wallace following receding floodwaters from Hurricane Florence.
“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 wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday.
The massive storm, which dumped record-breaking rain in parts of the state earlier this month, shut down portions of Interstate 40 as floodwaters overtook roads and surrounding areas.
“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.
Aerial footage shared by the state’s Department of Transportation on Monday captured parts of I-40 completely submerged.
“This isn’t a river...this is Interstate 40,” NCDot Tweeted.
NCDOT Secretary Jim Trogdon also shared a photo of a boat traveling along the submerged interstate.
The deadly storm, which made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, on Sept. 14, set a new statewide record for the amount of rainfall dumped by a single storm.
The coastal town of Swansboro, located roughly 20 miles east of Jacksonville, North Carolina, saw a record-breaking 33.89 inches of rain on Sept. 16. The previous state record was 24 inches set by Hurricane Floyd in 1999, The News and Observer reported.