CARTHAGE, NC (AP) – Tens of thousands of people braced for days without power in a North Carolina county where authorities say two electrical substations were shot by one or more people with apparent criminal intent.
On Monday in Moore County, southwest of Raleigh, businesses handed out free food or coffee, temporary stop signs were erected at intersections where traffic lights went dark, and businesses without Internet made cash transactions. A local economic official described the area known for its golf courses and local pottery as “strangely quiet” at a time of year when businesses are usually full of tourists and holiday shoppers. County schools were also closed and a countywide curfew was in place from 9 a.m. to 5 a.m.
Meanwhile, federal, state and local authorities were conducting a massive investigation into what was described as a serious attack on critical infrastructure. Utility officials said it could take until Thursday to restore all power.
“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 Sunday that authorities have not determined a motive. He said someone got up, broke down the doors of the substation and opened fire on the substations. 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.
He also said the substations were targeted: “It wasn’t random.”
Fields said law enforcement provides security at substations and businesses overnight.
“We’re going to have people there tonight all day,” Fields said.
About 35,000 electric customers in the county were without power Monday morning, several thousand more than the peak of outages, according to poweroutage.us. Temperatures dipped below freezing early Monday, with lows again expected in the 40s later in the week.
About 20 people spent the night in an emergency shelter at the Moore County Sports Complex in Carthage, said Phil Harris, executive director of the local American Red Cross chapter. Harris, who leads a team of nine volunteers, said many more have stopped by to eat, warm up or charge their devices.
“If you don’t have power, you probably won’t have heat, so with the winter weather coming, it’s a nice place to stay,” Harris said.
Duke Energy spokesman Jeff Brooks said Sunday that 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
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.
The holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year for the region’s tourism-dependent economy, said Linda Parsons, president of the Moore County Chamber of Commerce.
As they did during the pandemic, businesses that can’t open or don’t have foot traffic are getting creative with online sales. Some hardware stores and other stores are doing cash-only transactions, he said. Other businesses are offering free food to residents without power, like the Southern Pines Growler, which handed out free coffee and pancakes Sunday.
“Our community has done an excellent job of coming together … it’s quite heartwarming, honestly,” he said. “We’re making the best of a bad situation.”
He said low-lying residents not far from the coast are used to summer weather emergencies like hurricanes. But this is different, Parsons said: “It’s strangely disturbing.”
Andrew Wilkins, a conservation advocate who grew up in Moore County, was driving Saturday night from Washington to his parents’ small farm in Whispering Pines when he noticed the street lights were out in Carthage. 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.