00:24 Hurricane Florence Shreds American Flag on Frying Pan Tower Winds from Hurricane Florence are shredding an American flag on Frying Pan Tower, an old Coast Guard station off the coast of Cape Fear, North Carolina.

At a Glance Hundreds of thousands were mesmerized last week by a video feed of an American flag being torn to shreds by Florence.

The flag will be taken to the shore this week, where it will be auctioned off by the Red Cross to raise money for those in need.

Hundreds of thousands were mesmerized last week by a live video feed of an American flag being ripped to shreds as Hurricane Florence battered the offshore Frying Pan Tower.

Richard Neal, part-owner of the historic Coast Guard Light Station that lies about 34 miles off the coast of Wilmington, North Carolina, told WSOC-TV he was surprised by the passionate reactions of people watching as Old Glory was shredded by hurricane-force winds.

"The flag that was put out there was put out there slightly before we even knew Florence was going to be a storm," Neal told the station Saturday. "We didn't know to take it down, and we couldn't get back out there by the time this hurricane came in."

(MORE: The Latest on Florence's Impacts )

The flag at the site that now serves as a bed and breakfast is featured on a webcam hosted by explore.org , a multimedia organization that "documents leaders around the world who have devoted their lives to extraordinary causes."

During the storm, someone decided to nickname the flag "Kevin," and at least two Twitter accounts were created: @kevintheflag and @FryingPanFlag.

"If you have been following the chatter it seems someone decided to name our flag 'Kevin,' " Neal posted to Facebook. "Well, if so then Old Glory is Kevin. It is Paul, It is Nancy. It is Larry. It is Emily ... Old Glory represents all of us as Americans. Together, WE are America and we decide to pick up, start again and sew our tattered lives back together after the storms of life pass through! Let your actions show us all proud & together!"

Neal told WSOC that people's reactions to Old Glory being torn by the wind were polarized.

While some veterans and others berated him, saying it was "disrespectful" to allow the flag to be whipped by the storm, others saw it as inspirational and a symbol for the resiliency of the United States.

"Most people were watching it thinking, 'Uh, we're being torn apart as a nation, and what do we do? How do we survive this?'" Neal told WSOC. "I think the message we got out of this is that as Americans we really do care about our country. We can see the damage and the difficulty, but we can also pull together."

"We will rebuild," he added. "We will repair."

(MORE: No Atlantic Hurricane Name Has Been Used Longer Than Florence )

The lighthouse that stands 85 feet above sea level served for more than 100 years as a warning to boats of the dangerous, shallow shoals lying off the North Carolina coast.

The tower lies at the southern end of the shoals that have been referred to as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" because of the number of shipwrecks in the area. The tower got its name because the shoals are shaped like a frying pan, Neal said in a Facebook chat Saturday.

Built in 1854, the tower was manned by a Coast Guard crew for 110 years in all types of weather, including a direct hit by Hurricane Irene in 2011. It later was unmanned and eventually abandoned by the Coast Guard in 2004, when Global Positioning Systems made the lighthouse obsolete.

In 2010, Neal purchased the tower and, with other investors, converted the tower into a condominium-type bed-and-breakfast tourist destination.

Neal said in the Facebook chat that the torn flag will be "respectfully and honorably" taken to shore this week, where it will be turned over to the Red Cross of Wilmington and auctioned off to raise money for those in need.

Neal told WSOC that he hopes the torn flag will inspire people to unite together rather than be catalysts for discord which seems to be permeating the country, particularly on social media.

"We can stand up, we can contribute," Neal said. "We can show up and help. Individually, we need to take that step of not just typing about it on the internet, but get out there and make a difference."