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Ocracoke Island To Open For Thanksgiving Tourism With Residents Still Displaced

WUNC News | By Frank Stasio,
Grant Holub-Moorman
Published November 12, 2019 at 12:20 PM EST

Nearly 10 weeks after Hurricane Dorian struck North Carolina’s coast, Ocracoke Island is still under an evacuation order blocking visitors and tourism. On Monday, Nov. 11, the Hyde County Board of Commissioners agreed to allow visitors starting Nov. 22, which is the same day the island’s main road is expected to reopen. 

Host Frank Stasio talks with Connie Leinbach, editor of The Ocracoke Observer and Ocracoke Commissioner Tom Pahl about Ocracoke's ongoing recovery from Hurricane Dorian.

Many businesses pushed to reopen the island to tourists before Thanksgiving to recoup lost profits, but concerns remain about whether the influx of visitors will delay repairs for permanent residents. Host Frank Stasio talks with Connie Leinbach, the editor and co-publisher of the Ocracoke Observer, as well as Tom Pahl, Ocracoke's elected representative to the Hyde County Board of Commissioners, about engaging democracy during disaster recovery.

Residents dubbed the main debris heap Mount Trashmore.
Connie Leinbach / Ocracoke Observer
Residents dubbed the main debris heap Mount Trashmore.
While NC 12 is under repair, cars are redirected onto a sandy bypass.
Connie Leinbach / Ocracoke Observer
While NC 12 is under repair, cars are redirected onto a sandy bypass.
Some businesses rebounded quickly and have been providing residents an escape from the long haul of rebuilding.
Connie Leinbach / Ocracoke Observer
Some businesses rebounded quickly and have been providing residents an escape from the long haul of rebuilding.

Copyright 2019 North Carolina Public Radio
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
Grant Holub-Moorman
Grant Holub-Moorman is a producer for The State of Things, WUNC's daily, live talk show that features the issues, personalities and places of North Carolina.
See stories by Grant Holub-Moorman