SUNSET BEACH, N.C. — Hurricane Ian made landfall more than 50 miles south of the southern-most tip of North Carolina. But the storm was still strong enough here to bring down branches, topple some trees and push the water up from the sound into the street.
"We dodged a bullet here," said Gary Massey, who owns the Sunset Beach Pier. "We were very blessed and fortunate."
Massey lives a little inland, about 4 miles from the pier. He said he left at about noon yesterday before the strongest winds moved in.
"We have a webcam here. I tried not to sit there and focus the whole time watching to see how bad the damage was," Massey said.
Damage at his pier amounted to one lost board and another that popped up. The waves caused erosion to the dunes on this stretch of beach, and a lot of that sand piled up under Massey's pier.
Piers south over the border in South Carolina did not fare as well. A pier in Pawleys Island, South Carolina, washed away, and sections of three separate piers in the Myrtle Beach area collapsed.
Most people in this part of Brunswick County kept power, despite the tropical storm winds that swept through Friday.
The bridge to the island reopened to the public Saturday morning. Homeowners and business owners were allowed back in earlier. But some people rode out the storm on the barrier island.
"When the water started rising and the street started to look like a river, that's when it got a little scary," said Susan Tankersley, who was cleaning the yard of a house on the southern tip of the island.
"We never lost power and the flooding came up to 2-3 feet. The wind was impressive at times," she said. Tankersley was visiting from Greenville, South Carolina, with some friends and decided to ride out the storm.
That water didn't come up from the beach. Instead, it flooded streets from the sound side. Along the backside of the island, debris piled up, but people had already cleared the streets.
It was sunny and mild in Sunset Beach Saturday morning as people walked the shore and cleaned up debris in their yards.
"The sound broke first and flooded the street, and then we went out to the ocean about 1:30 before it had hit. The ocean was way up," said Susan Brady, who also stayed on the island through the storm.
President Joe Biden on Saturday declared a federal disaster for North Carolina, which makes federal emergency aid available for the state. Much of the damage was inland, where trees fell and knocked out power for people in Raleigh and around central North Carolina.
Gov. Roy Cooper said four people died during the storm, all in Central North Carolina. Three of the deaths were in traffic crashes, and a forth involved carbon monoxide poisoning to a person using a generator in a garage, the governor's office said.
