Headline from the Charlotte Observer.
In addition to the damages to infrastructure such as dams, railroads, and bridges, the Great Flood of 1916 also caused crop damage estimated at an excess of $10,000,000 in the North Carolina Piedmont and across the greater southeast. Agriculture was a main source of livelihood within the Piedmont region at the time and corn, tobacco, and cotton crops were all hit hard by the storm. Crops were impacted by the sustained heavy winds and fields were flooded with the heavy rains or washed out by the high waters of the Catawba. Many of these washed out fields were unable to recover as the fertile topsoil had been washed away and sand deposited on banks.
Additionally, a number of cotton mills on the banks of the Catawba were damaged. A large amount of cotton stored in these mills were washed down river and lost, equaling lost profits not only from damaged crops in the field but also those in other stages of production.
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