Devastating hurricane damage leaves Oak Island with weeks of cleanup

OAK ISLAND, NC (WWAY) — Oak Island was one of the hardest hit areas by Hurricane Isaias on Monday.

The storm cleanup may take weeks, according to town officials.

On Tuesday, the town ordered a mandatory evacuation for all residents and non-residents west of SE 40th Street on Beach Drive, Dolphin Drive, and Pelican Drive.

The category one hurricane left behind a heartbreaking scene. The storm surge pushed cars down the streets and shredded homes. One Oak Island homeowner says they have never seen anything quite like it.

“This house was built in 1969, we went through Floyd and all these other hurricanes over all those years,” resident Vance Whicker said. “This is the worst damage that we’ve sustained in those 51 years.”

On Wednesday, insurance companies were able to reach the island to survey the damage. It will most likely take months before residents of Oak Island know just how much they actually lost during the storm.

“Well, the flood insurance adjusters were here earlier today and there’s no estimate right now,” Linda Whicker said. “But it’s a lot of damage.”

Now, the cleanup and restoration will begin for both individual homeowners and the town. They say they know things can get back to normal, but it will be an uphill climb they’ve never faced in the aftermath of a storm before.

“We can all get this place back to where it was before and we’ve been through it before,” Whicker said. “But in the past it has just not been this bad. “