Imperial Valley Press

Tourists evacuate North Carolina island, hurt local businesses

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A “steady stream” of tourists left a North Carolina island Saturday under evacuation orders prompted by a widespread power outage, wiping out a significan­t chunk of the lucrative summer months for local businesses.

It could take days or weeks to repair an undergroun­d transmissi­on line damaged early Thursday by constructi­on crews working on a new bridge between islands. The constructi­on company drove a steel casing into an undergroun­d transmissi­on line, causing blackouts on Ocracoke and Hatteras islands.

Cars lined up Friday to get on ferries, the only way off Ocracoke Island, after about 10,000 tourists were ordered Thursday evening to evacuate. A second order for visitors to Hatteras Island, south of Oregon Inlet, meant up to 60,000 additional people had to evacuate starting Saturday, primarily north over the inlet bridge.

As of 2 p.m. Saturday, North Carolina ferries had evacuated about 3,800 people and 1,500 cars from both islands, according to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office.

Cooper said he called local officials to offer state help.

“We’ll do all we can to get repairs moving,” he said in a release.

Excavation at the site revealed Saturday that one of three undergroun­d transmissi­on cables that supply the islands’ power is missing a 2-foot section. A timetable for repairs won’t be known until crews determine whether either of the other cables, still buried as of Saturday afternoon, was damaged, according to Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperativ­e.

Dare County spokeswoma­n Dorothy Hester had no estimate for how many people still needed to leave Hatteras Island.

“We realize people are disappoint­ed. They’re packing up and moving out,” she said. “While disappoint­ed, they’re going to make their way home.”

Roughly 80 percent of the islands’ tourism stems from vacation rentals, and the order coincides with the customary Saturday turnover for weekly home rentals, so those people would be leaving anyway. The big question is when visitors can get to homes already rented for upcoming weeks in the height of tourism season, said Lee Nettles, director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.

 ?? THE NEWS & OBSERVER VIA AP ?? Tara Clark shops at Ocracoke Outfitters in Hatteras, N.C. on Friday. Even though the power was out, Clark and her kids, who are from Indianapol­is, were able to shop and buy souvenirs. The store stayed open without power but only accepted cash for...
THE NEWS & OBSERVER VIA AP Tara Clark shops at Ocracoke Outfitters in Hatteras, N.C. on Friday. Even though the power was out, Clark and her kids, who are from Indianapol­is, were able to shop and buy souvenirs. The store stayed open without power but only accepted cash for...

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