Dorian leaves marks on parts of NC's Crystal Coast

Although Hurricane Dorian didn't make landfall along the Crystal Coast, the storm's winds left their mark on North Carolina's central coast.

Posted 11:25 p.m. Sep 6, 2019 — Updated 12:51 p.m. Sep 7, 2019

By

Sloane Heffernan

, WRAL anchor/reporter, & Kasey Cunningham, WRAL reporter

ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. — Although Hurricane Dorian didn't make landfall along the Crystal Coast, the storm's winds left their mark on North Carolina's central coast.

A water spout spun up by Dorian came ashore at Emerald Isle on Thursday, turning into a tornado that ripped through an RV and mobile home park.

Dorian also tore the roof off Bogue Shores Condominiums, at 1918 West Fort Macon Road in Atlantic Beach, leaving chunks of debris along the ground and smashing the fence that surrounds the complex's swimming pool.

No one was hurt in either incident.

Pumps were working Friday afternoon to remove about a foot of water from streets along Emerald Isle, where many homeowners expressed relief that there wasn't significant damage outside of the RV park.

"It's stressful," resident Steve Shelton said, "especially when you've got some real estate down here that can get damaged pretty quickly."

Tom Stachel said he saw the water spout and tornado from his balcony.

"Saw it going across the sound and the ocean and went up there [to the RV park] afterward and saw all the damage," Stachel said.

As residents at the RV park spent Friday salvaging what they could from their shattered homes, police blocked off the area to keep onlookers out.

Local authorities said they were thankful Dorian skirted the area and that its winds never picked up the debris left by the tornado and turned it into projectiles that could have caused more damage.

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