EMERALD ISLE, N.C. — The storm has passed, but one community is still feeling the effects of Hurricane Dorian that will sting for weeks.
"Just sick to my stomach, just walking through the debris," said Norma Skinner. Thursday morning, the first of Dorian's outer bands brought a tornado on shore that ripped through an Emerald Isle neighborhood. Now, this community is faced with picking up the pieces.
"I couldn’t even get my door open because there's so much glass in there but I'm very fortunate compared to a lot of people around here," said Skinner. Bill Knouse is one who's lucky to be alive.
"All of the sudden the wall on my right side starts coming down on me throws me to the floor and the roof started coming down on top of me," he said.
It wasn’t long before EMS crews were in his doorway. "I was on the floor and in the process of getting up and EMS – and I can't give them enough credit. They were opening my door before I could even turn around," said Knouse. Town officials say it’s a miracle no one was seriously injured, or worse.
"We were blessed. The lord was looking after us and he had his hand over us and we were just totally blessed for nobody to get killed in this," said Skinner.
The town manager says Hurricane Florence caused $50 million worth of damage, almost one year to the day. They were about 85 percent recovered when Hurricane Dorian tore up the coast.
The curfew was lifted at noon on Friday morning. That's when people returned home to start the clean up process.