Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black said farmers’ worst nightmares are being realized as they assess damages to crops today caused by Hurricane Michael.

“I have seen pictures this morning of cotton that was being harvested yesterday with a yield of three bales to an acre,” Black said in a press conference with Gov. Nathan Deal. “Today, where they stopped harvesting, you can’t tell where they stopped harvest and where the rest was harvested by the storm.”

Most of the agricultural damage is in Southwest Georgia, including Decatur County, where the worst damage was done by Hurricane Michael.

Deal said 53 poultry houses in Southwest Georgia were complete destroyed. The Georgia Department of Agriculture is coordinating the initial responses to that disaster, he said.

Black said ag officials were struggling to reach growers in Southwest Georgia, where some communications systems have not yet been restored. The pecan crop also sustained damage, he said.