I was down at Nags Head this weekend, for a visit with my dad, and a fishing trip. He told me on Saturday, that he'd heard some news stories of 1.5 million menhaden dying in one NC river, and some other river with several hundred thousand dead fish (not sure what variety in the other river - maybe menhaden also).
He didn't have many details (like, the names of the coastal rivers), but the news report said that this massive fish "kill off" wsa the result of the huge rainfall that occurred a few nights back. They stated that enormous amounts of fresh water ran into these rivers, causing the fish to suffocate (there was more to it that that - but I didn't get all the details).
In any case, I just got home and read this post, and wondered if there's any connection. I haven't tried looking for any news articles, yet - but think I might.
Just wanted to pass along this information, as an FYI.