Vacationers hoping to travel to two islands in North Carolina hit by a massive blackout will need to wait up to two more weeks to stretch out on the sandy shores.

Power isn't expected to be restored to Hatteras and Ocracoke islands for at least one week and possibly longer, Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative said in a statement Monday.

Officials ordered a mandatory evacuation for thousands of tourists after a construction crew building a new bridge accidentally severed underground electric transmission cables last week.

One of the two damaged lines has been repaired, and all the equipment needed to fix the other cable is located on the islands, which helps cut down on repair time, North Carolina Electric Cooperatives spokeswoman Kristie Aldridge said.

Ocracoke is tapping into generators with the hopes they will be able to carry a full electrical load, Hyde County Spokesman Donnie Shumate said. “Right now it is a race to see which option can be done first,” he said.

Once full power is restored — whether by generator or transmission cables — visitors can return to the sunny beaches of Hatteras and Ocracoke islands, Shumate said.

However, both islands have experienced multiple issues with generators since the lights first went out. A massive generator tasked with powering Ocracoke blew out Thursday, forcing officials to import emergency generators. The machines took awhile to arrive because Ocracoke is only accessible by ferry or plane.

When the generators finally showed up, many didn’t come with the correct equipment to connect to the power grids.

Meanwhile, local business owners, who already took a huge hit from the blackout, are worried things won't get back to normal when the power comes back online, Shumate said.

“Many business owners are concerned that their employees may not stay and they will have a lack of workforce when power is restored,” Shumate said. “That's in addition to the money already lost due to the outage.”

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