OBX blackout: Mandatory evacuation, state of emergency on Ocracoke Island

Thousands were without power on Ocracoke and Hatteras islands on Thursday and officials were unsure when it will be restored.

The Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative said on Thursday that it could take several days or even weeks before power can be restored on Hatteras and Ocracoke.

A state of emergency was issued Thursday, according to Hyde County officials, and visitors to Ocracoke were told to evacuate so work could proceed on restoring power.

PCL Construction, the company building the new Bonner Bridge, told CHEC that at about 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, its crews drove a steel casing into the underground transmission cable running between the south end of the bridge and the overhead riser pole, causing the outage.

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