The emergency ferries from Stumpy Point to Rodanthe were up and running again this morning after an all-night effort to repair a ramp used to load vehicles  was damaged by a piece of heavy equipment.

The shutdown happened in the early afternoon yesterday as residents of Hatteras Island who evacuated were lining up to return home.  It was only on Sunday night that Dare County opened the re-entry process to all residents and abandoned a previously announced schedule of re-entry by village and first letter of the resident’s last name.

Lucy Wallace, spokeswoman for the Ferry Division, said that NCDOT District 1 bridge engineers and Ferry Division maintenance people worked all night to repair the ramp.

A large truck carrying a piece of heavy equipment was leaving the ferry at Stumpy Point when the load slipped, caught a metal beam on the ramp, and bent it.

Wallace said the resident re-entry re-opened this morning at 6:30.

“I’ve seen some very happy faces getting onto the ferry,” she said.

About 10:30, she reported that the lines were beginning to get long.

Wallace said there will be 12 departures from Stumpy Point today to either Rodanthe or Hatteras.

Currently, the ferries are running from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m., which is the last departure from Stumpy Point.  The last departure from Rodanthe is at 9:30 p.m.

Over the weekend, the Ferry Division said it would run ferries all night, but Wallace said that schedule has turned out not to be workable, since some crews on line to the emergency ferry operation had to return to their home bases.

Residents who evacuated during Hurricane Irene are advised to come to the Stumpy Point dock and get in line.

Yesterday, some of the residents in line when the ferry was closed down raced to Swan Quarter to catch the 4:30 p.m. ferry, the last one of the day to Ocracoke. Arrangements were then made for those folks to board a ferry at Hatteras Inlet to return to the island.

The re-entry is for Hatteras Island residents only, and you must have a driver’s license with a Hatteras Island address.

State troopers are manning a check point at the Stumpy Point docks and checking identification carefully.

Visitors and non-resident property owners are not being allowed on the island yet and will be turned around at the checkpoint.