As setbacks continue to slow restoration of the town’s power and water system, Wrightsville Beach officials pushed the target return date until Tuesday at the earliest, police chief Dan House said on Monday.
“As much as I’d love to say we’d be in today, it’s not likely,” House said.
While power was restored to Wrightsville Beach on Sunday evening, it was back out Monday morning following a transformer explosion. With the town’s water and sewer system running on backup generators, and leaks depleting the water reserves in the town’s tanks, the system can’t produce enough water pressure to adequately support fire suppression.
“We have a lot of wooden structures that are very close together,” House said. “If one of these houses caught fire, we could lose the whole island.”
With houses on the beach being so close together, fire can spread quickly, which is why water pressure is so vital, House said. And while town’s water tanks were filled before the arrival of Hurricane Florence, leaks in the water line have depleted some of the reserve water supply, which is held in two water tanks around the town. House said officials believe that the shifting of docks likely ruptures some lines, creating small leaks that are hard for crews to detect.
Once power is restored, it will take at least 12 hours for the town’s water system to catch up.
Meanwhile, crews had adequately restored the sewer system, House said, which was a top concern for officials on Sunday.
As utility crews continued to work on Monday to restore power, House said that its not crucial for electricity to be restored to the entire island, so long as there is enough to power the town’s water and sewer infrastructure.
Additionally, House said Wrightsville Beach police are continuing to film parts of the island and post the video to Facebook at facebook.com/WrightsvilleBeachPD.
