Internet back on Ocracoke, NC12 at north end passable, ferry service resumes – Ocracoke Observer

By Connie Leinbach

The NCDOT has announced that NC12 on the north end of Ocracoke Island has reopened as of about 3:30 today.

There are still areas of standing water and sand and to drive carefully.

Ferry service between Hatteras and Ocracoke will resume with the 5 p.m. departure from Hatteras.

NCDOT also reported that the closed section of NC12 between Hatteras and Frisco reopened at 4 p.m. However, there is still deep water in the area — 12 inches in spots.

They are urging motorists to drive with extreme caution, and vehicles with low clearance should wait until tomorrow if possible.

NCDOT reported that the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter ferries were back to their normal schedules on Tuesday.

Internet and phone service was restored to Ocracoke this morning (Tuesday) around 10:30.

Brightspeed Director of Public Relations Gene Rodriguez Miller told the Observer that a fiber cut on Monday around noon was a result of the DOT clearing roads from the Sunday storm.

The roads were significantly flooded, she said. The water in the ditch line is 16 to 24 inches deep and the sand was like quicksand.

She said crews tried to find the ends of the cable Monday afternoon but were not successful. Excavation crews were back on the job Tuesday morning.

The outage was isolated to Ocracoke and Hatteras. Buxton and north were still in service. 

Miller said that service impacted by the weather had been restored as of 1:45 p.m. and she was not aware of any other outages in the area needing repair.

With the loss of internet, some islanders with Starlink had service and some could go to the places that have the Tekniam backup system to get onto the internet.

Tekniam modules are located at the Hyde County sheriff’s office, the Community Center, the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Company, Ride the Wind Surf Shop and Harborside Motel.

You also need a password to access the system.

When an outage occurs, islanders can go to any of the buildings listed above and search for HYCO. The password for that is: SilkBeauty3.

Another access line is: OINC-BIZ. The password for that is: TEKbiz456!

Ocracoke’s county commissioner Randal Mathews, who got the emergency system in place last year after several such fiber cuts, is working on getting the HYCO access open without needing a password.

The Ocracoke United Methodist Church also has Starlink available and that the doors are open.