The Red Sky Cafe is one of several businesses in the Outer Banks negatively impacted by the restrictions placed on the islands due to the coronavirus. | Photo Courtesy of Red Sky Cafe
The Red Sky Cafe is one of several businesses in the Outer Banks negatively impacted by the restrictions placed on the islands due to the coronavirus. | Photo Courtesy of Red Sky Cafe
North Carolina's Outer Banks have been cut off from the mainland, something that happens every hurricane season, but this time the end-date is unknown because of the spread of COVID-19.
The Outer Banks are accessible from several bridges that connect them to the mainland. But a March 17 decision to restrict the islands due to COVID-19 was made and now only property owners can access to the barrier islands.
“When you close the bridges you shut off 70 to 80% of this population’s paycheck,” Wes Stepp, owner of Red Sky Café and NC Coast Bar and Grill, told Eater. Stepp said his employees are now worried about the summer season.
With the islands shut off to the mainland during the busy season, businesses and restaurants will be losing a large piece of their annual income, according to Eater. And business owners are worried about more than just their income.
“In a hurricane, we have insurance to cover closing our doors, food spoilage and other damages,” Madalyn Roberts, president of the Outer Banks Restaurant Association, told Eater. “This is something we’ve never seen before, and we’re having to take it day by day.”
And no one knows if these businesses will receive insurance for their losses.
But Leigh Raskin, a restaurant owner, said shopkeepers are hopeful because of the trust and friend they have for each other.
“There are so many people going through this, and the Outer Banks community is just incredible," Raskin told Eater. “Whenever this community is in crisis, it just reaffirms how beautiful it is, and everyone rallies around it. Everyone’s affected, but they’re still doing their best to lift each other up.”
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