Community Outreach Continues

Update from Hyde County: A number of citizens were served at the local disaster recovery center and the information provided exposed a number of unmet needs, so therefore representatives from the Hyde County Department of Social Services (DSS) will be remaining on the island today. You can visit with the DSS caseworkers at the Ocracoke Community Center, between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm, to apply for programs administered by their department.

Loss information provided by individuals and businesses, will help the county in gauging the full economic impact of this event and identify further unmet needs as the situation continues to evolve. The data collection forms will be available on the county website for those who were unable to visit the local disaster recovery center.

We would like to extend our thanks to the islanders who joined us at the community event yesterday evening and we were more than pleased with the outcome. In addition, we extend the deepest thanks to the volunteers who worked behind the scenes to make the event happen on such short notice.

Today, August 2, 2017 and tomorrow, Thursday, August 3rd, 2017, the Bread of Life Food Bank will be open from 9:00 am to 5:00pm, or until the food stocks are deplenished. The Albemarle Food Bank will be making contributions to this effort and continue to support the local food bank as the island recovers from this event. If you need food assistance, or if you wish to contribute financial or material support, the Bread of Life Food Bank is located at the Ocracoke Assembly of God Church; 459 Lighthouse Road; Ocracoke, NC 27960. More information about the Bread of Life Food Pantry can be found at http://www.ocracokeislandag.org/food-pantry.html.

The latest update on the main transmission line repair effort from Tideland EMC indicates that the timeline for repair has been reduced from 6-10 days, as they reported yesterday, to 4- 6 days. Extremely positive information regarding the repair effort has been released over the last few hours, and we would like to send our thoughts and extend our thanks to those who are working around the clock to restore electrical service to Ocracoke and Hatteras Islands.

As previously stated, individuals who are requesting more information about the Ocracoke Island Mandatory Evacuation Order, who have general questions about the status of Ocracoke Island, or who are seeking authorization to travel to Ocracoke Island prior to the Mandatory Evacuation Order being lifted, should contact the Hyde County Emergency Operations Center at (252) 926-4374.

Questions regarding access to, or information concerning, Hatteras Island should be directed to Dare County Emergency Management at (252) 475-5655. For the latest updates from Tideland EMC on electricity restoration, please visit their website or social media outlets.