Ocean Isle Beach residents: Damage from Isaias ‘twice as bad’ as Hurricane Matthew

E. Third Street in Ocean Isle Beach. (Photo: Kylie Jones/WWAY)

OCEAN ISLE BEACH, NC (WWAY) — Recovery continues along the coast of Brunswick County. One week after Isaias slammed into Ocean Isle Beach, some homes just got power restored Tuesday.

To say some of the homes on the East End of the island sit right on the water is even more accurate after Isaias made landfall there. The homes took a direct hit from the winds and storm surge.

“It was pretty unbelievable,” Toni Titone, who owns two homes on E. Third Street, said. “Matthew was bad, but this was twice as bad. This been pretty devastating. Everything. We lost everything. Five or six feet of sand under the house. Everything was pushed over to probably 6th Street.”

Titone and her husband Barrie McMurtrie rent out their two houses on E. Third Street, which sit right at the edge of the water. They say the storm surge and winds pushed mounds of sand, furniture and even cars three streets over.

With nothing left to protect their homes from the ocean, the couple says they lost the walls, the steps and utilities.

“We lost the sewer line,” McMurtrie said. “We lost electric, so we had to have the whole electric line replaced, which just got finished. The electric box over there. All the electric have just been replaced. And it’s only today we got electricity.”

When the couple got back to the island last week, they had a tough time just taking in the damage.

“The first day, you’re just in a daze,” Titone said. “I had neighbors staying with me who came down, and we just kind of said you’re just really in a daze.”

Several streets further back on the East End also felt the effects, dealing with debris, flooding and even fires.

Between getting rid of the debris and finding contractors to repair the damage, Titone says it’s going to take a little while to clean up the mess, but she hopes to be ready to rent on of the homes in a few weeks.

“We’ll be able to rent it again,” the couple said. “In a couple of week, we’re in.”

The couple says the town has been working for several years to put in a jetty-type of structure to protect the homes on the East End. They say they wouldn’t have had nearly as much damage with it in place.

They also say they’re grateful to the town for helping them get back on their feet for what they hope is a quick recovery.