Big effort underway to restore North Carolina islands’ power

RODANTHE, N.C. – Crews are taking two approaches to restore power to two North Carolina Outer Banks islands.

Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative spokeswoman Laura Ertle said in a statement that crews are digging up damaged cables to splice together. The utility also is looking at an overhead transmission line from the Bonner Bridge to existing lines on Hatteras Island.

Ertle said crews are working on both plans until it’s clear which is fastest and safest. She says depending on the approach, repairs could take one to two weeks.

Tourists were evacuated from Hatteras and Ocracoke islands because of Thursday’s outage.

Gov. Roy Cooper is visiting the bridge Monday where three transmission cables were damaged by a construction crew. Cooper also will visit businesses in Rodanthe, south of the bridge on Hatteras Island.