RICHMOND, Va. -- As residents start cleaning up after Hurricane Dorian made landfall Friday in Cape Hatteras, others are reflecting on the storm's impact on their vacation plans.
"I knew it wasn’t going to happen, that’s just how my luck is," Angela Wise said.
Wise and her friends had planned a trip to Kitty Hawk at the beginning of the summer.
The vacation spot was one of many places along Outer Banks that Dorian ripped through.
“My roommate's mom owns a house down there, so we planned to go down for a week," Wise explained. “Oh, I was mad because I haven’t been to the beach in over ten years.”
The hurricane left her at home watching her and her roommate's dogs. And she said she will not be able to get the vacation time back.
“That was my main reason for taking this week off to start a new job next week," Wise said. "Now I don’t know when I’ll get another vacation, so thanks, Dorian.”
That said, Wise realizes she was fortunate to remain out of the storm's path.
“It’s really sad to think of all those people losing everything they had just from a storm," Wise added.
Angela Wise
Flooding on NC barrier islands
Floodwaters from Dorian on North Carolina's Ocracoke Island receded Friday afternoon, easing concerns for people who were stuck much of the day in their homes.
Feet-high floodwaters had covered yards outside homes on Ocracoke early Friday, social media images showed. Jason Wells snapped photographs from his home's upper level of the virtual lake in his yard and said the flooding "is by far the worst I have ever seen or heard about" in his 40-plus years there.
"There are people that have had knee to waist-deep water in their houses," he told CNN Friday morning.
"Several people were rescued from their upper floors or attics by boat, or from Good Samaritans," Wells said.
Much of the water receded by Friday afternoon and about 2 feet of water remained on the island as of 4 p.m.
Jenni Starr, who lives on Ocracoke, posted a photo to Instagram of her yard and told CNN before the water went down her house had a foot of water in it.
Rick Anderson, a photographer on the Outer Banks, said about 50 to 75 feet at the end of a pier in Kill Devils Hills had been smashed by the storm. The rest of the pier was still standing, Anderson told CNN.
Sheriff's deputies, medics and emergency management workers were sent to the island to help people from their homes, the Hyde County Sheriff's Office said.
More than a foot of rain fell in some places
Since Thursday, Dorian has flooded parts of the Carolinas and spawned a number of tornadoes, as well as lashed Virginia with winds and rain.
Between 10 and 15 inches of rain fell in parts of North and South Carolina this week, the National Weather Service said.
Floodwaters were surrounding Deborah Lacks' home on Ocracoke Island Friday morning. Video that she shared to Twitter showed the water lapping up against the house and vehicles parked outside.
No injuries were immediately reported, Sprayberry said.
Earlier in the week, Dorian flattened homes and wiped out neighborhoods in the northern Bahamas, leaving at least 43 people dead. It then closed in on the southeastern coast of the United States, where five deaths have been blamed on the storm so far.
Tornadoes struck along the coast Thursday
At least 24 tornado reports were made in South Carolina and North Carolina as the hurricane hit those states this week, especially on Thursday. Twisters toppled mobile homes and left debris strewn for acres.
Tornadoes are common in the thunderstorm bands of hurricanes and tropical storms.
North Carolina resident Byron Cox was in his mobile home in Emerald Isle when a tornado approached Thursday. His home was still standing, but his father's home was destroyed, he said.
"I remember hearing a loud noise. The next thing I know, the trailer started shaking. ... It shook probably 10-15 seconds, real hard," Cox, 37, said Thursday.
"All of a sudden I didn't feel it (any) more. I looked outside, and the tornado ... (was) going through the back. ... Debris flying everywhere. Never saw anything like this in my entire life."
Tornadoes hit parts of South Carolina, where firefighters say one damaged an unspecified number of vehicles and buildings in North Myrtle Beach.
South Carolina turns to recovery
Charleston's mayor says that efforts to recover begin Friday.
"Yes, today was Dorian Day in Charleston, and I am happy to bid him farewell," Mayor John Tecklenburg said Thursday. "To the hundreds of officials, and the outstanding citizens of Charleston, thank you. Tomorrow, we all unite as Team Charleston to recover."
Authorities in Charleston are working to address power outages, downed trees and flooded roadways.
The CNN Wire contributed to this report.
