Losing Income Is No Fun
The OBX power outage of 2017 has received quite a lot of national attention. From a tiny news segment about slivers of sand that make up Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, it may seem like a power outage is no big deal. It also may not seem like a big deal to be without power when you spend a week or two at a time here. Even if you’ve been visiting the Outer Banks for decades, it’s hard to fully grasp what life is like – especially the struggles – when one is here for one or two weeks out of fifty-two. One way to gain some insight is to speak with actual residents, business owners, and employees. Hearing from those directly affected can make the situation easier to understand. Various businesses are experiencing a wide array of challenges because of the power outage.
Sarah Fiore, owner of Bella Fiore, said, "I am losing thousands of dollars. This summer up until Thursday had been my best season in 15 years and now I’m honestly frightened at what the future will bring.” Sarah, who makes much of the pottery sold in the shop and participates in a free trade program, is anxious to see visitors return to the island. “I understand accidents happen, but this was a major screw up. Major! And that’s what insurance is for. They need to be held accountable. This is the livelihood of thousands of people!”
Jason Wells, owner of Jason’s Restaurant, was forced to throw away 500 pounds – about $3,000.00 – worth of refrigerated food. And that’s on top of lost revenue. Jason estimates that on a typical July day “we average $5,000.00 in sales.” He continued, saying, “This could be devastating, even worse than a September hurricane. We have a 60-day peak season, so to lose even ten of those days could be awful. And we’re also talking about the employees: kids saving for college, people with families.”
Jason also acknowledges that he and fellow Ocracoke residents aren’t the only ones who are feeling the impacts of the accident. “We feel bad that people had to cancel vacations. We empathize with our visitors and I hope they can empathize with us, too.”
Much of the profit business owners and their employees earn during the summer is saved to help them remain financially stable through the winter. The evacuation order was the last thing any resident wanted, but Jason explained he is "100% behind the decision to evacuate,” because, “we’ve got to take care of the residents.”
Amy Howard, manager of the Village Craftsmen on Howard Street, said this power outage “is not great for my employees and it’s not great for me, but I don’t have stock that’s going to go bad. We might be very frustrated, but we all want what’s best for Ocracoke and the visitors. We want them to come back!” Amy added, “People worry about storms getting us and ferries getting to us. Now this is another battle we have to fight. The good thing about Ocracoke is people love Ocracoke, so we're hopeful that visitors will return.”
Down Creek Gallery owner Marissa Gross expressed similar concerns. “I just got caught up from the last two hurricanes. Unless we’re compensated for this there’s no way I can make up for this lost time. I don’t see how anyone can.” Marissa explained that her financial losses caused by the power crisis are “insurmountable.” “It’s a huge mental and financial strain. I can’t imagine what restaurant owners are going through,” she said.
One of the businesses to remain open through the ordeal is Zillie’s on Back Road. But they aren’t making a financial killing. David Bundy and Roy Revels, who own the establishment, also plan weddings and other events through Ocracoke Style. “We have two weddings scheduled for this week. We’d ordered all the food, and now we’re giving money back and losing money. And it’s hard to start the train back up after an evacuation,” explained David. Roy continued, saying, “Then we wonder what to order and if we even can order. There has to be time to make plans.”
Zillie’s has a propane powered generator that has enabled them to remain open and save the $75,000.00+ of food, wine, and beer available for purchase, but that comes at a cost of about $275.00 a day. “We like to keep people employed, and save our product, and serve the community,” David said.
We briefly discussed the class action lawsuit many residents are organizing. Roy wonders what would happen if they stop construction of the bridge in the event of a lawsuit. “This is a tiny taste of what would happen if the [Bonner] bridge fails. Without a bridge we’re done,” he said.
