Observer staff report and reporting by Sam Walker of WOBX
While NCDOT crews work to reopen NC 12 from overwash from the Wright Brothers Day Storm on Sunday, Ocracoke also is dealing with an apparent fiber cut since internet, cell and land lines have been down on Ocracoke since about noon on Monday.
No information is available on what happened since communications have been severed. Those who have Starlink have internet and the Tekniam backup system has been working. Verizon sent a message at 2 p.m. that there is a service disruption on the island and they are working on fixing it.
As for traveling to Hatteras or Ocracoke, according to DriveNC.com, N.C. 12 between Frisco and Hatteras Village could reopen as early as 5 p.m. Monday. But the work to clear the road between the Ocracoke pony pens and the north ferry dock is expected to take until Tuesday evening.
The N.C. Department of Transportation has been out since early Monday trying to clear sand and water that washed over N.C. 12 near the northern border of Hatteras Village, and on the north end of Ocracoke.
Some of that work was undone by the midday high tide, which has delayed reopening both stretches of the highway.
Due to the closure, ferry service across Hatteras Inlet remains suspended due to the road closure. The Ocracoke-mainland routes have resumed service, but they will only be running from Cedar Island and Swan Quarter with departures at 4:30 p.m.
Elsewhere, soundside flooding caused by a shift in the winds this morning has mostly been a minor nuisance in the usual trouble spots such as Downtown Manteo and from Pea Island to Hatteras village.
