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Greensboro man surveys damage at his Holden Beach vacation home

"The water came up a lot higher than I thought it would," he explained in his Facebook live overnight during the eye of the storm.

HOLDEN BEACH, N.C. — A Greensboro man went to his beach house in Brunswick County to secure his home before the storm, but his efforts were no match for Isaias.

RELATED: ‘Our state has recovered from some fierce storms’: Cleanup underway, following effects of Isaias

Still, Michael Staley counts himself lucky. He lives in Greensboro but has a vacation home on Holden Beach. 

"The water came up a lot higher than I thought it would," he explained in his Facebook live overnight during the eye of the storm.

Back live at Holden beach eye of the storm

Posted by Michael Staley on Monday, August 3, 2020

Staley said the water came up waist-deep in the lower storage area of his home.

RELATED: 'Nothing is there now' | 2 people dead, mother and two children found safe after tornado in Bertie County

"It was a pretty crazy storm, there's trash everywhere," he said. "A boat washed up {in the backyard}."

Staley said the storm surge was the worst of it.

"You could hear the horns blowing, just random lights flashing on cars, headlights cutting on and off," he said of all the commotion. "My neighbor over there they lost two cars, the neighbor across the street from me got two wet cars."

His truck luckily made it through, but he didn't go without loss. 

"The water got the washer dryer and the hot water heater."

Still, he was more concerned about his neighbors. He jumped in to help, quite literally. 

RELATED: Isaias is gone, we have a nice Tuesday ahead

"We were up at 2 a.m. me and a neighbor was rescuing boats that were loose and drifting off trying to tie them to the docks and just helping neighbors clean up," he stated. "Finally about 3:30 a.m. things had quieted down."

Staley said he's not heading home to Greensboro just yet. He'll likely need to stay in Holden Beach to clean up for a couple days.

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