Hurricane Florence transformed parts of the North Carolina coast into a contaminated wasteland, with NASA satellite images showing dark, debris-filled rivers flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.

The photos were taken on Sept. 19 from above White Oak River, New River and Adams Creek.

A natural-color image shows how “soils, sediments, decaying leaves, pollution, and other debris have discolored the water in the swollen rivers, bays, estuaries, and the near-shore ocean,” officials said.

“Organic matter — such as leaves, roots or bark — contain pigments and chemicals (such as tannins) that can color the water when they dissolve,” NASA said.

“Depending on the amount of dissolved particles, the water in natural-color imagery can appear blue, green, yellow or brown as the [colored dissolved organic matter] concentration increases.”

The National Weather Service office in Raleigh, NC, estimates that nearly 8 trillion gallons of rain fell on the Tar Heel State from Sept 13 to 17.

“The majority of the rivers have started to subside, but still remain in major flooding stage,” NASA said.

The agency was able to capture the images using its Landsat 8 satellite, which it operates with the US Geological Survey.