Excessive rain in late September, early October caused area flooding throughout the county and led to less than ideal conditions for local farmers and their crops. It is No. 7 of the Washington Daily News’ Top 10 stories of the year.

Beaufort and Hyde counties and surrounding areas experienced an immense amount of rain from Sept. 22-Oct. 4, followed by rain from Hurricane Joaquin — a storm system that just missed eastern North Carolina but did add precipitation to the overall equation.

On Oct. 5, Beaufort County Emergency Management Director John Pack announced that the flood gauge at the U.S. Highway 17 bypass bridge read that it was above flood stage. And while the rain let up later that week, northeasterly winds continued to push water up the Pamlico and Pungo rivers until Thursday, including water being pushed into Belhaven, flooding main roads and causing continued hardship for town residents and business owners.

Throughout the county, low-lying areas were inundated with the continued rain and rising creeks and rivers. According to Beaufort County Fire Marshal Curtis Avery, the flooding included Aurora (around Hickory Point), areas around Blounts Creek, Whichards Beach Road, many of the roads feeding into the end of River Road outside of Washington, as well as East Main Street surrounding Jack’s Creek bridge.

Avery said the highest water, however, was in Pamlico Beach, an area that was hit hard during Hurricane Irene in 2011.

In Washington, continual pumping of Jack’s Creek prevented flooding in the neighborhoods north of the East Third Street/Park Drive pumping station, according to Washington Police and Fire Services Director Stacy Drakeford.

Farther east, widespread flooding of local roads led to the National Guard and a swift-water rescue team being called into Swan Quarter and shelter opened on Main Street, according to an advisory from Sarah Johnson, county public information officer.

As a result of the excessive rain, area farmers took a hit. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a decision to designate 19 counties in North Carolina as primary natural disaster areas due to damages and losses, with Beaufort and Hyde counties being included in the list.

According to Rod Gurganus, director of the Beaufort County Cooperative Extension, while there was a good amount of flooding in Beaufort County, Hyde County was impacted even more due to its low-lying terrain.

“Generally speaking, all of eastern North Carolina had too much rain over that period,” Gurganus said. “Water got pushed in around Sladesville, Swan Quarter, Engelhard and in low-lying areas where water was able to push up across roads and in fields. Everyone got damage on their crops from that (period) of rain.”

Several crops were affected, according to Gurganus. In some cases, area soybean crops were mature and almost ready to pick prior to the period of rain. But excess caused the soybean seeds to sprout on the plant or become diseased, something that Gurganus said caused many farmers to lose a good portion of their harvests.

Cotton was an even worse issue, Gurganus said. Similar to soybeans, cotton crops were affected by the seeds sprouting on the plant, ruining the seed quality. And while soybeans overall took a 30 percent hit on average, depending on location, a 40-percent average of cotton crops were lost. A thousand acres of snap beans were also lost, and in western counties like Bertie, Martin and Pitt, the peanut crop, as well as sweet potatoes, were affected.

According to Natalie Wayne, Hyde County Cooperative Extension director, Hyde County, which can boast revenue in the $80-90 million range, saw close to an $8-13 million loss.

“What hurt the worst was the full season of soybeans, and you’re talking about 16,000 acres in Hyde County, so it was a pretty big hit for all farmers, especially coming off from last year with the Fourth of July tropical storm,” Wayne said. “A lot of farmers lost their corn crop. You go from last year to this year, it hurts.”

With agriculture being North Carolina’s primary economic driving force, the losses were projected to affect the state’s bottom line, just like it did for farmers, Gurganus said. However, farmers were able to weather the storm, so to speak. The USDA’s announcement of naming affected counties as natural disaster areas made all qualified farm operators in the areas eligible for low-interest emergency loans (EM) from USDA’s Farm Service Agency, provided eligibility requirements are met, according to a USDA press release.

According to Gurganus, some parts of Beaufort County received more rain than others. One farmer near the Pantego area claimed to have recorded 110 inches of rain this year, approximately double the normal annual precipitation.

One particular issue that Beaufort County farmers faced as a result of the rain this year is the fact that the fields were too wet to plant wheat on time, if at all, Gurganus said. But due to the unseasonably warm weather in November and December, wheat that was planted later because of the rain is now having a chance to catch up. Economically, the lack of wheat acreage means less seed available for next year’s wheat planting in October and November, Gurganus said.

Also affected by the excessive rain was the harvest of soybeans and cotton, according to Gurganus. On a normal year, harvests are complete by Thanksgiving, but this year, some farmers still have soybeans in the field.

“The weather has pushed us way back, as far as what’s in the ground now,” Gurganus said. “It’s not going to hurt us as much, as long as we get dried up going into March and April next year. Outside of the wheat crop, it’s not really affecting anything else. We’ll just have to wait and see what spring brings. If the wet weather continues into April and May, then we’re talking about setting back corn, soybeans and cotton planting.”

Gurganus said the agricultural issues related to weather will be discussed among attendees at the extension’s winter growing meetings in January and February.