At a Glance

Hurricane Florence likely deposited trash from Haiti and the Dominican Republic along North Carolina beaches.The pieces of plastic were discovered by several people who cleaned up the coast at North Topsail Beach.The trash was likely brought in from several Atlantic Ocean garbage patches in the path of the storm.

As if the power of Hurricane Florence wasn't evident enough, a discovery along a North Carolina beach served as yet another reminder.

Over the past few days, residents of North Topsail Beach went out to the coastline to clean up the trashdeposited on the shore by Florence, and people like Bradley Thomas Dixon realized many pieces of plastic had markings in either French or Spanish. After doing some research on the pieces of trash,Dixon learned the products he found originated up to 1,100 miles away, in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, carried through the current by the powerful storm.

"As I kept picking up trash, I started realizing that I did not recognize " said Dixon in a Facebook post. "That was when I found a plastic bottle cap that said 'Haiti.' I guess Hurricane Florence scooped up a big pile of trash out in the Atlantic and scattered it on North Carolina beaches."

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It wasn't just Dixon – fellow North Topsail Beach residentsMargot Clark and Jennifer Cusimano Miller told the Charlotte Observer that they believe came from Haiti.

"I have to imagine Florence brought them in," Miller told the Observer. "I've never seen plastic trash to this magnitude on our beach ... I definitely think this is storm-related."

While the storm did not track directly over Haiti or the Dominican Republic, Florence did pass over several garbage patches in the Atlantic Ocean. From there, the pieces of plastic could have been carried all the way to the North Carolina coast – right where they were discovered by Dixon and others.

"If you go to clean up hurricane debris on (North Carolina) beaches, take a look before you throw it away," said Dixon. "One water bottle had Chinese writing that was translated by my friend Jie Fang to 'Chef Kang,' which is a popular brand in China!"