( CNN ) -- A furious Hurricane Irene exacted a heavy toll on North Carolina , claiming at least five lives , peeling siding off houses and plunging hundreds of thousands of homes in darkness . And yet , it could have been much worse , said the U.S. Coast Guard . `` All in all , the damage was n't nearly as bad as we had expected , '' said Rear Adm. William Lee , who surveyed the coastline on a helicopter tour from Cape Lookout to Wilmington . `` Very few trees were down . I saw evidence of minor flooding . '' Three of North Carolina 's deaths involved traffic wrecks during the storm . Another person died when he was hit by a tree limb , while feeding livestock . A fifth died of a heart attack as he was putting plywood over this windows ahead of the storm 's arrival . Some 450,000 were without power early Sunday , officials said . Irene stomped across the state most of the day Saturday after a morning landfall near Cape Lookout at the southern end of the Outer Banks . The storm ripped shingles and siding off buildings in Atlantic Beach , knocked over a church steeple and flooded homes in low-lying areas . At least 10 major roads were closed and airports were forced to shut down , Gov . Bev purdue said . The hurricane unleashed 10 to 14 inches of rain over much of North Carolina and pushed a 4-foot storm surge into the Chesapeake Bay , the National Hurricane Center said . As of midnight Saturday , Kill Devil Hills had endured 31 hours of nonstop rainfall . Firefighters waded through knee-high floodwaters as they responded to calls in the community . The nearby town of Wanchese was reported under water , officials said . In Duck , North Carolina , the storm pushed water from the Currituck Sound inlet out to the sea , said resident Gregg Nigro . `` Once the storm 's eye passes and the wind shifts , we will see flooding and erosion , '' he said Saturday . In Greenville , Mike Sharpe woke to find water under his living room door . `` The front parking lot is just as flooded , and the cars have water up past their doors , '' he said . `` Everybody 's a little worried . We did n't expect to have any flooding . That 's something we were n't prepared for . '' Glenn Williams watched the storm from his downtown Raleigh office . `` I just come down here in the hurricane because it 's safer than it is at home where all the trees are at , '' he told CNN affiliate WRAL-TV . By early Sunday morning , Irene had hammered the state with 10 to 14 inches of rain . Through it all , residents maintained their good humor . In Kill Devil Hills , the boarded-up shop windows displayed spray-painted missives to Irene : `` I have enough women in my life , Irene , '' said one . `` No crabs for Irene , '' said another at a seafood shop . `` Do n't be mean , Irene , '' said a third . In some areas , beachcombers looked for any shells Irene had deposited . Surfers reveled at their good fortune at Wrightsville Beach , taking advantage of the bigger waves dished up in the aftermath of the storm . `` It 's the wind and the waves and the culture , '' Dane Reynolds telling WRAL why he was out in the post-storm surf . `` It 's all about the culture of the surf community . ''
NEW : Many Outer Banks homes are flooded . The storm knocks over a church steeple . Five deaths are attributed to the storm . Surfers ride the waves after Irene passes .