Durham, N.C. — Thousands of Verizon customers are without phone and Internet service Thursday.

The problems stem from a construction crew accidentally drilling through three vital cables Sunday on Miami Boulevard. Officials said initial indications suggest that the crew did not check for the underground cables before drilling.

"We understand how tough it is to work below ground, but that is why the locate process is so important," said John Ferrell, Verizon's Southeast region general manager for operations. "Had that been done properly, as the law stipulates, chances are these businesses would not have had their commerce affected."

The utility mishap is affecting an estimated 9,000 lines in Research Triangle Park. For businesses such as the Goodwill Store in the Brier Creek area, the outage is hitting them particularly hard.

"It's been a lot of extra work. It's been hard on a lot of people. We never thought it would run this long," said Steve Snyderman, of Goodwill.

"It seems like we had to go back in time," said Carl Holm of Goodwill.

Verizon officials said it could be another four days before all the repairs are finished. They said one of the other reasons for the lengthy repairs is that saturated ground from recent rain is making it difficult for crews to do the work.