(As is the COVID-19 pandemic wasn't enough, Ocracokers will also go 7 hours without telephone and data. I'll be reading a book!)
Hyde County will be part of a planned outage on Ocracoke for telephone and data services due to work on the new submarine transmission cable being installed between Hatteras and Ocracoke Island.
The telephone and data services outage will begin at 11:59pm Tuesday night. Service is expected to be restored before 7:00am Wednesday morning.
The scheduled work will also require the use of the generator on Ocracoke to provide electricity beginning 11:59pm Tuesday night. Tideland EMC is confident that the generator will be able to handle the load for the entire island from late Tuesday night and through all daylight hours Wednesday.
Tideland EMC expects the island to be energized with mainland power early Wednesday evening. Tideland EMC asks that residents on Ocracoke conserve power while the island is running on the generator.
Editor's note: This overnight outage to connect the cable is part of the project announced in DEcember with this National Park Service press release:
Cape Hatteras National Seashore (Seashore) has issued a Special Use Permit to Tideland Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) for a project that will improve the reliability of electric service to Ocracoke Island. The project will replace an overhead pole line with an underground cable along Pole Road in Hatteras. It is expected to begin in January 2020, with construction estimated to take about two months.
The overhead pole line, which runs 1.75 miles along Seashore property near the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum to the south end of Hatteras Island, is being replaced with an underground cable because the erosion at the south end of the island and washouts along Pole Road have increased enough in recent years that the integrity and reliability of the overhead line are at risk. The power line is the sole source of electricity to the 1,385 electrical customers on Ocracoke Island.
Public access along sections of Pole Road will be periodically impacted during this important project. However, the construction will be completed in four segments to ensure beach access is available for visitor enjoyment. Detour routes for each segment will be published on the Seashore’s beach access web page.
After the underground cable is installed, the existing overhead line will be removed, which will allow the present line route to return to its natural vegetative state. Pole Road will continue to serve as an off-road vehicle route after the project is completed.
