Dauphin Island faces island-wide power outage

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. (WALA) - Dauphin Island is experiencing an island-wide power outage that began just before 7 a.m. Sunday after a power line broke over the water near the Dauphin Island Bridge.

Mayor Jeff Collier confirmed the outage affects the entire island. Alabama Power says it hoped to restore electricity by 5 p.m. Sunday.

“The power went off here to the entire island shortly before 7 a.m., and what we subsequently found out is that one of the overhead wires coming across the water had broken,” Collier said. “It’s a cold day obviously it’s never a good time for power to go out, but on an extremely cold day it makes it exceptionally challenging.”

The mayor thanked Alabama Power crews for working in harsh weekend conditions and praised the community’s response.

“I’d just like to thank Alabama Power for coming out on the weekend in extremely harsh conditions and also for our community for stepping up in a time of need,” Collier said. “So I think we all just hunker down and do what we gotta do and we’ll all get through this together.”

Closures and warming stations

The Dauphin Island Sea Lab says the Alabama Aquarium closed Sunday because of the outage.

The Sea Lab has opened Shelby Hall as a warming station for island residents. Pets, smoking and alcohol are not allowed, and access to lab areas is restricted.

Islanders Restaurant has opened as both a warming station and for regular business hours.

FOX10 is still waiting on confirmation whether power has been fully restored on the island.