Sunday’s replacement of aging drainage culverts under N.C. Highway 12 in Frisco caused an interruption in cell and internet service for southern Hatteras Island and Ocracoke Island that lasted roughly 12 hours.
While working at the site in between Delmer Willis Road and Sunset Strip in Frisco, a Century Link fiber optic cable was accidentally cut at around 1:45 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, leaving communities south of the site offline.
The Ocracoke Observer reports that ATMs displayed “out of service” messages on both Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, and the Variety Store in Ocracoke could take credit cards for later “batch processing,” but not debit cards. The Ocracoke Station gas pumps continued to work, because they do not take debit cards.
A CenturyLink technician and fiber optic repair crews from Manteo and Elizabeth City arrived at the site to address the problem by Sunday evening, and service returned to southern Hatteras and Ocracoke islands by roughly 2:00 a.m. on Monday morning.
The Frisco roadwork also caused a necessary 4WD-only detour from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Sunday which bypassed N.C. Highway 12 via ORV ramp 49 to ORV ramp 44. N.C. Highway 12 was reopened in Frisco to all traffic by the 7 p.m. timeframe on Sunday.
