Stranded North Carolinians take stock of Dorian’s damage

ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. (AP) — Stranded residents of North Carolina’s Outer Banks are beginning to assess the damage wrought by Hurricane Dorian.

Steve Harris has lived on Ocracoke Island for most of the last 19 years. He’s ridden out eight hurricanes, but he said Friday that he’d never seen a storm bring such devastation to his community.

Harris lost his car to the storm and his air conditioning is damaged, but he said he’s blessed that his condominium is on the third floor and he is insured.

The U.S. Coast Guard began landing local law enforcement officers on the island Friday via helicopter and airlifting out the sick, elderly and others in distress.

By Friday evening, Gov. Roy Cooper said officials weren’t aware of serious injuries from the storm on the Outer Banks.

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Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia. Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Gary D. Robertson, Martha Waggoner and Jonathan Drew in Raleigh, North Carolina; Tom Foreman Jr. in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Seth Borenstein in Washington.

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For more of AP’s coverage of Hurricane Dorian, go to: https://apnews.com/Hurricanes