SHALLOTTE, N.C. - The backhoe raked what was
left of a three-story Ocean Isle Beach cottage into a pyramid that
would later disappear into the back of dump trucks.
There wasn't much left of the house, formerly the last in a row
of houses that face the ocean at the island's east end. Wobbly,
tilted and already condemned by the town after previous storms
eroded its foundation, the house succumbed to the
hurricane-generated surf of Ophelia.
But that's the way it is with hurricanes. Sometimes it's not the
wind that gets you. It's the water.
Creeks, rivers and lakes that overflowed farther north in
Brunswick County during Wednesday's hurricane started to recede
overnight, lowering water levels that had threatened some homes
between Bolivia and Southport.
Some roadways still were closed Thursday, including N.C. 211 in
several places, N.C. 130 going into Holden Beach and most of N.C.
133 between Leland and Oak Island.
Concerns about flooded roads prompted Brunswick County school
officials to decide late Thursday to keep schools closed again today
so Department of Transportation officials can ensure the safety of
14 area bridges, Superintendent Katie McGee said. The school board
will decide Monday when to make up the lost days.
People in 11 houses in the Clam Bay area off Stone Chimney Road
and three houses off Royal Oak Road were stranded when waters washed
out the roads that led to them, said Brian Watts, deputy director of
Brunswick emergency services.
The county got water and food to those in the Clam Bay area and
made contact with the others, who said they didn't need any
assistance.
"They're troopers," Watts said. "They don't want to leave."
Allen Pope, N.C. DOT engineer for the Wilmington region, hoped
most roads would reopen by today, but he said it will take longer to
repair spots where drainage pipes were washed out.
Most of the water "is coming back toward the Lockwood Folly
River. I suspect most of the flooding issues will be over tomorrow,
but at this moment, that's a guess," Pope said Thursday. "I do know
some areas around Bolivia and Southport got as much as 15 inches of
rain."
"It just kept coming and coming," said Sean Huddleston, who lives
at the Buddhist temple on Midway Road and helps the monks and
abbot.
Water up to 7 feet deep lapped at the base of the temple, which
is built on stilts.
By Thursday afternoon, power had been restored to all but about
100 of Brunswick Electric's 16,600 customers who lost power during
the storm. Progress Energy still had 274 customers without power
late Thursday afternoon.
Judy Gore, vice president of customer relations for Brunswick
Electric, said crews worked all night Wednesday to restore
power.
"The wind and rain kept pounding, and we couldn't get out men out
there," she said. "The linemen wanted to get out there so badly, but
for their safety they had to wait until later afternoon."
Coming home
Chris and Allysa McKenzie, who own two houses on the east end of
Ocean Isle Beach, left Monday and spent three nights at Shallotte's
Holiday Inn Express with their three children and dog.
"You hope for the best, but you prepare for the worst," Allysa
McKenzie said as the family saw that both houses stood firm after
Ophelia. They were among a line of residents who returned when the
island reopened at noon Thursday.
The town issued a mandatory evacuation order Tuesday evening and
cut water and sewer service because of the danger to a line that
served homes on the east end. A small part of one side of the road
was washed away, but the system remained intact, said Ocean Isle
Town Administrator Daisy Ivey.
Much of Holden Beach was under 3 feet of water during the storm
but nearly all had drained by Thursday afternoon. Homes remained
intact, although a few had lost shingles and isolated strips of
siding.
Boiling Spring Lakes might have taken the brunt of the water
damage, with three roads washed out, including Boiling Spring Road,
the town's main drag.
Mayor Joan Kinney said the town lowered Sanford Lake's level by
18 inches before the storm, when forecasts called for a 4-inch rain.
When they saw they needed to drain more, they opened its gate, but
even that couldn't keep up with what was estimated as a 14-inch
rainfall.
"It wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't stayed so long," she
said.
