OUTAGES CAUSED BY ATTACKS PERSIST
Tens of thousands of people braced Monday for days without electricity in a North Carolina county where authorities say two power substations were shot up by one or more people with apparent criminal intent.
Across Moore County, many businesses and restaurants displayed “Closed” signs in windows and had empty parking lots at a time of year when they are normally full of tourists and holiday shoppers. Others handed out free food or coffee, or were able to open by conducting transactions in cash.
The county, about 60 miles southwest of the capital of Raleigh, announced schools would be closed today for a second day.
Duke Energy has restored power to roughly 9,000 customers after a peak of about 45,000 customers were without electricity in the county of about 100,000 inhabitants. Jeff Brooks, a Duke spokesperson, said recovery will be gradual, noting “a pretty sophisticated repair with some fairly large equipment” will continue into Thursday.
Gov. Roy Cooper said state and federal investigators “are leaving no stone unturned in this investigation to find those who are responsible.”
“Protecting critical infrastructure like our power system must be a top priority,” Cooper said at a news conference. “This kind of attack raises a new level of threat. We will be evaluating ways to work with our utility providers and our state and federal officials to make sure that we harden our infrastructure where necessary.”
Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields declined to elaborate Monday about the shootings other than to say the damage was done by gunfire. But whoever was responsible, he said, “knew exactly what they were doing to cause the outage that they did.”
Meanwhile, traffic lights were out countywide. Drivers treated intersections as four-way stops, snarling traffic in places such as downtown Carthage amid a consistent hum of honks at each nonfunctional light.
Noah Hartford, an 18year-old civil engineering student at Sandhills Community College, said his family has been struggling to stay warm since losing power at their home in Aberdeen. Temperatures dropped below freezing early Monday, and lows in the 40s were expected during the week.
“It’s real cold,” Hartford said as he warmed beside a fire pit in nearby Southern Pines. “It’s just me, my mom and my brother. We have a fire and stuff outside and a fireplace, but we’re really hoping we get the heat back soon.”
About 20 people spent the night at an emergency shelter at the county sports complex in Carthage, said Phil Harris, executive director of the local American Red Cross chapter. Harris said plenty more have stopped by for food, warmth or to charge their devices.