NORTH CAROLINA -- Several people on the coast are trying to pick up the pieces of what is left since Florence passed. Some areas have allowed residents to re-enter to assess the damage, and what they've found is disheartening.

Carolina Beach

Carolina Beach city officials, along with the Wilmington Army Corps of Engineers, are surveying the dunes along the beach. The city is set for a new renourishment project of the dunes next year, but that bid is being pushed back while they see how the storm affected the areas. The current budget to do both Carolina Beach and Kure Beach is about $18 million. One town council member says the dunes prevented mass flooding and destruction of the city’s infrastructure during Florence.

“While we may have lost some from of the dune to the ocean and we’re going to have to add a little more sand than what we originally had in our budget and in our profile, the dune system itself and the program has worked tremendously well,” said Steve Shuttleworth, Carolina Beach Town Council.

The last renourishment project happened in 2016.

New Bern

More than one million students in North Carolina are coping with the effects of Florence. The state superintendent assessed damages to J.T. Barber Elementary School in New Bern Thursday. The school’s auditorium flooded 13 rows of seats. Administration says the building suffered no water damage to classrooms.

Staff is trying to reach out to the school’s 315 families, but cannot get in contact with everyone.

“The school is here, the teachers are here working, but the community members are scattered throughout North Carolina and other states because they either evacuated or they lost everything in this storm,” said Mark Johnson, North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction.

He says he will work with the general assembly to pass legislation to forgive the missed school days.

Topsail Beach

North Topsail Beach residents finally returned home Thursday morning, a week after fleeing the island and Florence. Officials opened the bridge at 9 a.m. with a long line of cars waiting to get home. One resident on 8th Avenue was grateful his home only had roof and ceiling damage, considering their homes are right on the ocean.

“It could have been a lot worse, the house is still standing, I can't sleep there tonight but it's definitely some stuff we can fix,” said resident Don Baker

Most of the heavy damage was contained to the north end of the island. North Topsail Beach officials have tallied 874 reports of minor damage and 77 reports of major damage.