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MANNS HARBOR — The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division announces it will begin running a set schedule at its Stumpy Point emergency route beginning Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2011.

This route is for emergency responders and essential commodities only and is based on first-come, first-serve. A total of 7 vessels will be running on the route, the same number that is used during peak season. The crossing time to Rodanthe is 2 hours and the crossing time to Hatteras is 3.5 hours.

The Stumpy Point-Rodanthe schedule will be as follows:

* Departing Stumpy Point at 6:30 a.m., 8, 10, 10:30, 12:30 p.m., 2, 4 and 4:30; and

* Departing Rodanthe at 7 a.m., 9:30, 11, 1 p.m., 1:30; 3:30, 5 and 7:30.

The Stumpy Point-Hatteras schedule will be as follows:

* Departing Stumpy Point at 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

* Departing Hatteras at 5:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Residents and property owners of Hatteras Island who have questions about reentry can call Dare County Emergency Management at 252-475-5655.

The Ferry Division will continue to run an amended Pamlico Sound schedule to take residents and emergency personnel to Ocracoke. Hyde County Emergency Management will allow only vehicles with a purple sticker or green sticker entry back onto the island, with purple stickers, emergency personnel, given priority.

Residents with a current valid driver’s license are also allowed. At this time, Hyde County is not allowing non-resident property owners or visitors onto the island. Those with questions about reentry to Ocracoke should call Hyde County Emergency Management at 252-926-4368.

The Cedar Island-Ocracoke schedule will be as follows:

* Departing Cedar Island at 7 a.m., 10, 1 p.m. and 3:30; and

* Departing Ocracoke at 7:30 a.m., 10, 1 p.m. and 3:30.

The Swan Quarter-Ocracoke schedule will be as follows:

* Departing Swan Quarter at 7 a.m., 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 4:30; and

* Departing Ocracoke at 6:30 a.m., 9:30, 12:45 p.m. and 4.

Currituck-Knotts Island, Southport-Fort Fisher and Cherry Branch-Minnesott Beach routes are operating and are open to the public. The Cherry Branch route is experiencing some large debris obstacles in the Neuse River and may at times only run one boat and may not run after dark for safety reasons.

The Bayview-Aurora route is currently not operating due to electrical and structural problems with the ramps. The Hatteras-Ocracoke route will begin operating once sand is cleared off NC 12 from Ocracoke Village to the ferry dock.

The ferry reservations telephone line is currently out of service. Those travelers wishing to obtain a refund should wait until service is restored and a refund will be issued. Online reservations are also not being accepted.

Ferry information is available by calling 800-293-3779 (BY-FERRY) and pressing 1, or via Twitter at www.twitter.com/ncdot_ferry.