RALEIGH, N.C. — Power has been restored for thousands of the Moore County, North Carolina, households and businesses that lost it, including the hospital in Pinehurst and some homes in Carthage.
Power returned to the 402-bed FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital around 9 a.m. Wednesday, said Gretchen Kelly, a spokesperson for the hospital. Since the widespread power outage started after an attack on two electrical substations, the hospital has been operating on a backup generator. The hospital is now in the hours-long process of transitioning from generator power to full power.
While the attacks initially struck 45,000 customers and their families, Duke Energy had whittled that number down to 23,000 by Wednesday morning.
The smaller Randolph Electric Membership Cooperative also lost power to roughly 2,600 homes, and has been doing “rolling power-ups” throughout the week — giving families a few hours of electricity at a time.
Duke Energy said it had completed work on the damaged substations and hoped to have most power restored Wednesday before midnight.
“All substation equipment damaged from recent vandalism has either been fully repaired or replaced,” the company said on its outage website Wednesday. “Once we have completed all necessary testing, the gradual restoration of service to those Moore County communities still without power will begin. To avoid overwhelming the electrical system we will bring power back on gradually, with the goal of having the majority of customers restored before midnight tonight.”
In Carthage, ‘People are really looking out for each other’
A neon sign outside of the Moore County Sports Complex in Carthage read “Shelter and Showers” on Wednesday’s rainy morning. After three days, with power restored in much of the county seat of Carthage, the complex had been operating as a shelter for community members to sleep, use WiFi, eat or take a hot shower.
Sarah Hilliard beamed as she walked to her car, leaving the shelter. Her husband had just texted her that the power at their house had come back on.
“It’s like the text you’ve been waiting for,” she said. “It’s finally come through.”
Hilliard lives down the street from the sports complex and has been coming there for the last three days to use the WiFi while hers was out and to charge her devices. She said she was fortunate to be able to stay in her house to keep warm by the fire and use the water and the stove. Having lived in the Northeast, Hilliard said her family was used to power outages during storms but this was the first time she had ever taken advantage of a nearby shelter. She said because of underground wiring at her home, she thought they would never need to use a generator.
“We’ve heard that the power there is relatively stable, like they don’t lose power that often,” she said. “But obviously this is an unusual event.”
Hilliard said she saw social media posts and news conferences announcing the complex was open during the outage. She said there were families and older people staying at the shelter overnight and getting additional support.
“It’s a humbling experience, because you’re clearly surrounded by people who don’t have the resources,” she said. “To see that people who maybe don’t have the same resources are being taken care of is heartwarming.”
Hilliard feels a stronger connection with the community because of the outage.
“People are really looking out for each other, and it’s reassuring,” she said.
Investigation of damage
Moore County sheriff’s deputies said the investigation into the damage is moving quickly thanks to numerous calls to its tip line, which is 910-947-4444.
The FBI released a poster seeking information and promoting the tip line. People can also submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov, or contact a local FBI office or the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.
“On the evening of December 3, 2022, unknown suspect(s) fired multiple shots at two Duke Energy Substations in Moore County, North Carolina. The substations are located approximately 10 miles apart in West End and Carthage, North Carolina,” the poster says.
Moore County is southwest of Raleigh and includes Southern Pines, Carthage and Pinehurst — a world-renowned golfing community that has hosted the U.S. Open.
On Tuesday, Gov. Roy Cooper told reporters that law enforcement was “leaving no stone unturned in this investigation,” but revealed no specifics. Both the FBI and nearby Fort Bragg are involved.
“Looking at all of the information, this is a very thorough investigation — federal, state and local all coordinating,” he said.
The governor also said that they need to “assess where we are on our critical infrastructure. I know that there are a number of federal requirements that utilities have to abide by. But this seemed to be too easy.”
At least one state lawmaker, Moore County Republican Sen. Tom McInnis, said the legislature will look at updating state law to devise penalties that fit the crime, the Fayetteville Observer reported.
Despite temperatures near freezing at times, no confirmed deaths have come due to the outages, Moore County emergency officials report. One fatality in a home without power is still being investigated and may be unrelated to the outages.
Moore County Schools are expected to be closed to students through Thursday, and a curfew remains in effect.
