SURF CITY, N.C. -- It was the calm after the storm as residents enjoyed a beautiful day along Topsail Beach Sunday.
Hurricane Matthew swept through the North Carolina coast on Saturday bringing heavy rain and strong wind gusts but residents in Surf City say the damages weren't that bad in the area.
"We had a lot of wind. We had a lot of rain. We lost power about 8 o' clock last night. It still hasn't come back on but for the most part little limbs down, a lot of leaves down, nothing major," said Surf City resident James Sabella.
"The winds gusted like 60-70mph but that was it," said Sandy Oppolito, a Holly Ridge resident. "I've been through worse 125 mile per hour winds in Florida so this was just a bad tropical storm for us. We were very lucky."
The Town of Surf City enacted a state of emergency on Thursday and issued a voluntary evacuation that took effect at 9 a.m. on Friday.
Many residents took the extra safety precaution and left the island.
One resident said her friends evacuated to Fayetteville, which suffered more severe impacts from Matthew.
"Fayetteville is under water. So a lot of people left the beach to go west thinking they were going to be safer and that's not always the case," said Oppolito.
Early Sunday morning, Surf City town officials toured the area to assess the damages left behind by Matthew.
They said roads were passable and there were still some power outages in the area.
All public accesses are open but the most visible impact was beach erosion.
"We have lots of beach erosion and that spans from about 2400 South Shore north to the town line and that varies, but it's significant," said Larry Bergman, Surf City Town Manager. "Essentially the last beach push we did, we probably lost that sand at least."
Residents who lived in the area for over 15 years say they've seen far worse.
"This one really in the time that I've lived here has not really been that damaging" said Sabella.
Town officials say they have permits to restore the dunes but will likely wait until the end of hurricane season.