CARTHAGE, NC (AP) – Two electrical substations in a North Carolina county were hit by gunfire in what is being investigated as a criminal act, causing damage that could take days to repair and leave tens of thousands of people without power, authorities said.
In response to the ongoing outages, which began shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday across Moore County, officials announced a state of emergency that included a curfew from 9 p.m. from Sunday until 5 in the morning on Monday. Also, county schools were closed on Monday.
“An attack like this on critical infrastructure is a serious and intentional crime and I hope state and federal authorities thoroughly investigate and bring those responsible to justice,” Gov. Roy Cooper wrote on Twitter.
Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said at a news conference Sunday that authorities have not determined a motive. He said someone got up and “opened fire at the substation, same with the other one.” The sheriff said it appeared doors were broken into at both locations. The Pilot newspaper in Southern Pines reported that a wooden post holding a gate had been broken at one of the substations and was lying on an access road Sunday morning.
“No group has stepped forward to acknowledge or accept that they’re the ones who did it,” Fields said, adding that “we’re looking at all avenues.”
The sheriff noted that the FBI was working with state investigators to determine who was responsible. He also said that “it was a target.”
“It wasn’t random,” Fields said.
Fields said law enforcement provides security at substations and businesses overnight.
“We’re going to have people there tonight all day,” Fields said.
About 35,400 electric customers in the county were without power Monday morning, a few thousand more than the peak of outages, according to poweroutage.us.
With frigid 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 that while the company tries to restore power as quickly as possible, it prepared customers for the potential for outages that last for days.
“We’re looking at a fairly sophisticated repair with a fairly large crew, and so we want the citizens of the city to be prepared for this to be a multi-day restoration for most customers, potentially stretching into Thursday.” Brooks said on the news. 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 to make those decisions,” Locklear said.
The county of roughly 100,000 is an hour’s drive southwest of Raleigh and is known for golf resorts in Pinehurst and other communities.
Andrew Wilkins, a conservation advocate who grew up in Moore County, was driving from Washington to his parents’ small farm in Whispering Pines on Saturday night when he noticed all the street lights were out at the headquarters of Carthage County. It came to a “very black street” 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 the cold nights without heat. Local grocery stores, including Food Lion and Harris Teeter, have been distributing drinks, ice and pantry items to those who lost power, he said.
“Her home, like many rural homes, depends on a 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 altogether. People will really feel the pinch of that as it happens.” .
Wilkins described Southern Pines as a “close-knit” and “vibrant” community of military families, farmers and small business owners who have been doing their best to support each other during the power outages. Her family’s neighbors, she said, are stocking refrigerated medications for a local pharmacy that lost power.
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Hannah Schoenbaum is a staff member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a national nonprofit service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues.