CRUSO, N.C. — Residents in Cruso are relieved after Ida made its way through the mountains and caused much less destruction than Tropical Storm Fred.

What You Need To Know

No Flash Flood Warnings were issued for Haywood County

East Fork Baptist Church Pastor Mark Tice says he’s relieved

Tice says the clean-up effort in Cruso still has a long way to go

East Fork Baptist Church Pastor Mark Tice is still cleaning out his church after it was gutted by floodwaters about two weeks ago.

“We’re making great progress,” Tice said.

Tice admits he was nervous as heavy rain began to fall in Cruso Tuesday night.

“I’m not going to lie to you, I was out at midnight checking the river and the water level,” Tice said with a chuckle.

Tice says his anxiety was shared by many of his neighbors. Some evacuated the town as a precaution.

“There were about half a dozen that I know of that left until Thursday or Friday,” Tice said.

Ida didn’t cause any flooding issues along the Pigeon River near Cruso, which allowed Tice and others to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Everybody’s relieved we’re not dealing with a natural disaster,” Tice said. “When things fall a little more under your control ... it’s easier to talk to people … so we can give them a better idea what tomorrow looks like.”

Looking ahead to the next couple of weeks, Tice said he’s building a large tent in the church parking lot for people to come by to pray or seek counseling.

“If we can give people more opportunities to talk, cry a little, smile a little, laugh a little, we’ll begin moving forward with this,” Tice said.

Tice is hoping to get the church back open by December for their Christmas service.