Oak Island pier debris washes up along beach, pier closed permanently

OAK ISLAND, NC (WWAY) — The Yaupon Fishing Pier on Oak Island is closed to the public.

Officials said the remaining 75 feet of the pier has been permanently closed. Besides the end “T” collapsing, the rest of the pier also has many broken pilings.

This morning, it looked just like one of the many beautiful sunrises over the iconic Oak Island Pier, but something was missing.

Nearly a mile down the beach, you will find the missing pilings, boards, nails, and other debris that Hurricane Matthew ripped off.

“I couldn’t believe that it fell down,” Brittany Charles said. “It was crazy. It came down in like three different pieces.”

Brittany Charles said this pier is a staple on the island.

“My boyfriend’s grandpa always comes fishing here and he brings us and we always catch good stuff so it’s kind of weird to see it broken down,” Charles said.

Those missing pieces are scattered all over the island on 69th and 63rd Streets along with all kinds of other debris.

“Pretty devastating,” Jean Monier said.

While most houses held strong, yard debris, trash cans, dunes, and trees flew everywhere.

“But we can rebuild and put it all back together,” Monier said.

There’s no word yet on the future of the pier.

“Well maybe they could make the best out of a bad situation and just restabilize it and end the pier where it is and that’ll be the new pier,” Charles said. “It would be sad to have to shut the whole thing down.”

Officials said clean up is underway, but they are asking residents to be patient, because it could take some time.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story attributed information to the town’s Facebook page, but the page is not officially affiliated with the Town of Oak Island. We apologize for any confusion.