Outer Banks Power Outage: Construction Company Facing Lawsuits

OCRACOKE, NC — Lawsuits are pending against a construction company faulted for a power outage on North Carolina's Outer Banks last week that forced visitors off the beaches and left tourist-dependent businesses without income.

At least three lawsuits filed this week seek compensation from PCL Construction. Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday he believes the company responsible should pay for damages once all the facts are known.

.@NC_Governor says someone needs to be held accountable for #OBXBlackout but focus right now is restoring power to islands. #wral pic.twitter.com/ufdeK5iDL2
— Julia Sims (@WRALJulia) July 31, 2017

The islands were left without power Thursday after the construction firm damaged an electric transmission cable. PCL Construction told the Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative that workers drove a steel casing into an electric cable on Bonner Bridge.

Lawsuits filed in state and federal courts accuse the company building the long-needed replacement bridge over Oregon Inlet was negligent and should pay for the financial losses suffered by businesses at the peak of vacation season. (For more information on this and other Across North Carolina stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

About 50,000 tourists were forced to leave Ocracoke and Hatteras islands after last Thursday's outage and repairs remain ongoing.

The company declined comment in response to the lawsuits.

The latest regarding #obxblackout pic.twitter.com/O3o8LrSzl6
— PCL Construction US (@PCL_USA) July 31, 2017

Photo credit: James Willamor via Flickr/Creative Commons