Tourists return after power returns in North Carolina
RALEIGH, N.C. — Carloads of tourists rolled in, stores stocked seafood counters and kitchen workers chopped vegetables Friday as two North Carolina islands reopened to visitors after a weeklong power failure at the height of vacation season.
Power was cut to the two islands July 27 when workers building a new bridge drove a steel casing into underground transmission lines.
An estimated 50,000 tourists were ordered to leave during a make-or-break period for seasonal businesses, many of which close during the cold-weather months.
Dare County officials estimate that Hatteras Island businesses easily lost $2 million overall for each day of the power failure, Hester said.
Donnie Shumate, spokesman for Hyde County, which contains Ocracoke Island, said the county attorney will be leading negotiations to recoup business losses from the construction company that caused the accident, PCL Construction.