In response to the ongoing outages, which began shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday across Moore County, officials declared a state of emergency that included a curfew from 9 p.m. Sunday until 5 a.m. Monday. Also, schools in the county were closed on Monday. “An attack like this on critical infrastructure is a serious, intentional crime and I expect state and federal authorities to thoroughly investigate and bring those responsible to justice,” Gov. Roy Cooper tweeted. Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said at a news conference Sunday that authorities have not determined a motive. He said someone pulled up and “opened fire at the substation, same thing as the other one.” The sheriff said it appeared the gates were breached at both locations. The Pilot newspaper in Southern Pines reported that a wooden post holding a gate had broken at one of the substations and was on an access road Sunday morning. “No group has come forward to acknowledge or accept that they’re the ones who did it,” Fields said, adding “we’re looking at all avenues.” The sheriff noted that the FBI is working with state investigators to determine who was responsible. He also said he “was a target.” “It was no accident,” Fields said. Fields said law enforcement provides security at substations and businesses overnight. “We’re going to have people out there tonight around the clock,” Fields said. About 35,400 electric customers in the county were without power Monday morning, down several thousand from the holiday peak, according to poweroutage.us. With freezing temperatures Sunday night, the county also opened a shelter at a sports complex in Carthage. Duke Energy spokesman Jeff Brooks said several pieces of equipment were damaged and will need to be replaced. He said while the company is trying to restore power as quickly as possible, it cautioned customers against the possibility of outages lasting days. “We’re looking at a fairly advanced repair with fairly large equipment, and so we want the citizens of the city to be prepared that this will be a multi-day restoration for most customers, possibly extending into Thursday,” Brooks said in the news release. conference. Dr. Tim Locklear, the county’s school superintendent, announced that classes were canceled Monday. “As we go forward, we’re going to take it day by day in making those decisions,” Locklear said. The county of about 100,000 is about an hour’s drive southwest of Raleigh and is known for its golf resorts in Pinehurst and other communities. Andrew Wilkins, a conservationist who grew up in Moore County, was driving Saturday night from Washington to his parents’ small farm in Whispering Pines when he noticed all the street lights were out in the county seat of Carthage. It hit a “black road” and little information about the cause or extent of the blackout. “When the power went out, so did the flow of information,” Wilkins told The Associated Press. He spent the weekend helping his parents hook up a generator to their well for fresh drinking water and preparing them for cold nights without heat. Local grocery stores, such as Food Lion and Harris Teeter, are handing out drinks, ice and food items to those who lost power, he said. “Their home, like many rural homes, relies on a water well for fresh, clean water and is powered by electricity,” Wilkins said. “So when the power went out, the well stopped working, and when the well stops working, we slowly lose pressure until we lose water completely. People will really feel the sting of this as it continues.” Wilkins described Southern Pines as a “tight-knit” and “vibrant” community of military families, farmers and small business owners who do what they can to support each other during power outages. His family’s neighbors, he said, were storing medicine in a refrigerator for a local pharmacy that lost power.
Hannah Schoenbaum is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative staff. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues.
