Storm-Driven Barge Severs Bridge; Thousands Stranded

A gale blew a dredge into the only bridge to Hatteras Island today, severing the span and stranding thousands of people without power.

The island’s estimated 5,000 residents and an unknown number of tourists had no way off the island. Ferry connections via neighboring Ocracoke Island could not be used because winds were gusting to 60 m.p.h., creating waves of five to seven feet in Pamlico Sound.

No injuries were reported in the crash, which collapsed a 250-foot section of the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge, severed utility lines that run along it and grounded the dredge Northerly Island. Another 50-foot section of the bridge was in danger of falling, police said.

The 2 1/2-mile-long bridge connects Hatteras Island with Bodie Island to the north along North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

“There is no way to get across that bridge. It’s gone, collapsed,” said Gwen White, Dare County public information officer.

The accident knocked out electrical and telephone service to Hatteras Island and to most of Ocracoke Island, located to the south and accessible only by ferry.

Renee Hoffman of the state Emergency Management Division said authorities were trying to figure out how to get temporary electrical service set up. It was hoped that ferry service could be re-established within 24 hours, she said this morning. Repairing the bridge could take months.

Dare County Commissioner Gaskill Austin, who lives on Hatteras Island, said residents were “literally in the dark out here” but were used to minor power outages because of the frequent storms.

“A big need will be generators . . . and to save as much foodstuffs as we have here in the stores,” he said via ham radio. “That and the water is my primary concern.”