When Florence was raging last Friday on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, the hurricane tore a 40-foot (12-meter) chunk from a fishing pier that juts into the ocean at the state’s most popular tourist destination.

North Carolina estimated on Tuesday that 3.4 million poultry birds and 5,500 hogs died in Hurricane Florence, exceeding the number killed in the state’s last major hurricane two years ago.

From 1 to 5, the numbers we use to categorize hurricanes are ingrained in the minds of millions of Americans from Texas to Maine. But the famed 47-year-old Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, which only measures wind speed, may not be the best way to gauge a storm’s ferocity.

When a friend stopped by to tell Nicole Minkin Lissenden that her van door was open and some trash was on the ground next to it, she thought it was odd.

The 40 inches of rain Hurricane Florence has dumped on North Carolina is leaving a trail of industrial waste as runoff from coal ash pits, inundated sewage systems, and feces from dozens of hog farms pour into rivers, lakes and neighborhoods.

With the remnants of Hurricane Florence continuing to deluge the southeastern U.S., a small army of drones is being deployed to identify and fix damage caused by flooding.

The head of the National Flood Insurance Program told CNBC’s "Squawk on the Street" Monday that the government is prepared to handle the anticipated rash of claims filed by homeowners in the upcoming days and weeks.

Rising flood waters threatened communities across the Carolinas on Tuesday as storm Florence hit the U.S. Northeast with heavy rains and tornadoes after killing at least 32 people.

As Hurricane Florence surged toward land last week, meteorologists and emergency agencies took notice. The storm was a Category 4 hurricane, the second-strongest type, and it was drawing a bead on the Carolina coast.

The drenching rains and massive flooding caused by Florence are expected to inflict a high financial toll on homeowners in North Carolina and other states, as only a small percentage are covered by flood insurance that could help offset the costs of rebuilding their damaged homes.

The number of Americans with flood insurance is on the rise, yet Hurricane Florence is likely to make it painfully clear that too many homeowners in the Carolinas and other vulnerable regions remain unprotected.

This nightmare called Tropical Depression Florence is far from over. "Many people who think that the storm has missed them have yet to see its threat," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said. "This system is unloading epic amounts of rainfall -- in some places measured in feet, not inches."

Deadly storm Florence moved across western North Carolina early on Monday and continued to dump rain that has nowhere to go except to swell rivers, flood highways and homes, and threaten more lives as it heads towards Virginia and New England.

A potentially devastating Hurricane Florence is rumbling toward the Carolina coast this weekend, but for as historic as each new storm seems to be, insurers are preparing in relatively typical ways like activating additional staff in preparation for an onslaught of claims.

Hurricane Florence is making landfall in North Carolina, creeping ashore at 6 mph — but bringing winds of 90 mph, a massive storm surge, and a rain system that will soak much of the state and South Carolina for days. Forecasters warn of "life —threatening, catastrophic flash flooding."