Sandy has begun pounding the North Carolina coast. The far-reaching storm is hitting the coast with strong winds and heavy rains. Leland Pinder takes a look at how those who live in the coast North Carolina communities are faring so far.

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CARTERET COUNTY, N.C. -- Along the North Carolina Coast, heavy rain and winds continue to intensify as Sandy gets closer to N.C. shores.

Officials said coastal North Carolina communities have already seen a storm surge of two to four feet, as well as wind gusts that have exceeded tropical storm force and are expected to grow stronger.

Atlantic Beach resident Patrick Judge described what he saw while walking his dogs on the beach on Saturday morning.

"I'll tell you what there was about maybe a yard of beach left because the tide had come rolling up and in and there's a club where the picnic tables were floating back and fourth, upside down," said Judge.

The storm will not make landfall in North Carolina, but localized flooding and possibly power outages are expected.

The heart of Sandy is hundreds of miles away, but the storm, the size of Texas, has begun agitating waters, dropping heavy rain and swift winds on the North Carolina coast.

People who live there are taking precautions.

"I normally have furniture out here and stuff, I put all that stuff away and I still have a little bit of stuff to do," said Judge.

Denard Harris owns Portside Marine in downtown Morehead City. He's lived in the area for years.

"30 to 50 mile an hour winds is not unusual for us around here, we get those fairly often, but to have them last as long as it's going to last is gonna create some unusual problems for us," Harris said.

Flooding and power outages are real possibilities and because Sandy is occurring so late in the season, it has some feeling a little relaxed as it inches towards us. Residents aren't usually expected a hurricane around Halloween.

"We may be a little bit too relaxed thats a very good point," said Harris.