OAK ISLAND, N.C. – People in Oak Island have banded together to help get the town back to how it used to be, but the recovery process is a long one.

Piles of debris litter the streets, and contractors are hard at work. People like Charles Hale, a contractor, spend countless hours in the sun helping put the pieces back together.

“I mean, we're pushing anywhere between eight to 10 to 12 hours a day,” Hale says.

Hale is currently working to fix the roof on a home that backs up to the beach. It's one of roughly 931 homes that were initially reported to have damage on the island.

“The whole side of the island down there is still messed up, and we've been going down there working too,” Hale says.

Hale knows the work is no small feat.

“It'll be a while, it's not going to be a one week fix,” Hale explains.

But he is doing what he can, to fix as much as he can, as quickly as he can.

“Being Labor Day weekend, renters are coming back,” Hale adds.

Although progress has been made, the Development Services Department has issued 440 electrical and building permits combined for properties that were flooded.

Hale is fully prepared to continue working for quite some time.

“All in all, probably until winter, I'd really say probably until winter,” Hale says.

The average monthly field inspections for the Development Services Department was 1,400 for the month of August. That number shot up to 4,638 because of Hurricane Isaias.