The Scary Reason Why The FBI Is Investigating A Power Outage In North Carolina
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Winter is settling in throughout most of the country, with temperatures dipping to chilly lows. And that meant unfortunate news for one east coast county after a North Carolina power outage plunged residents into the dark. Now, the FBI has joined local officials in the hunt to uncover what happened.
Saturday night took a jarring turn for residents of Moore County. Around approximately 7 p.m., 40,000 homes and businesses lost power. And the cause?
Two substations fell under simultaneous attack. There is evidence that both substations sustained severe damage from gunfire. Sheriff Ronnie Fields said, “The person, or persons, who did this knew exactly what they were doing.”
Authorities estimate that repairs after the North Carolina power outage will be in the millions. But, more importantly, the parts that sustained the most damage will take time to source and repair. As of Monday morning, only 7,000 residents had power restored, which is at least semi-good news.
That leaves over 30,000 homes and businesses without power, with no clear estimation of when it will get restored. Duke Energy, who operates the substations, hopes to have everyone up and running by Thursday. But there is no way to reroute power, and “equipment will have to be replaced,” according to the principal communications manager for Duke Energy, Jeff Brooks.
Brooks also told CNN, “We’re pursuing multiple paths of restoration so that we can restore as many customers as quickly as possible. Recognizing that, we are looking at pretty sophisticated repair with some fairly large equipment.” And while they work on resolving the North Carolina power outage on the backside, multiple law enforcement agencies will tackle it head-on.
The FBI and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation have joined local authorities. So far, there are no suspects and known motive behind the North Carolina power outage. However, rumors swirled online that the attack was related to a locally scheduled drag show.
But, despite the rumors, the sheriff’s office says they see no connection between the two events. Sheriff Fields said they “have not been able to tie anything back to the drag show.” So at the moment, there are no viable leads.
The county is under an emergency order until the power comes back on, if not longer. Under the state of emergency declaration, country residents are subject to a nightly curfew. No one is allowed out between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Part of the reason for that decision was to protect residents and local businesses. The sheriff’s office hopes to prevent any looting. And that is good news for business owners who have suffered greatly in the last few years.
Another reason for the curfew is to keep people off the street unnecessarily. Nighttime temperatures are dropping down into the low 30s. Officials hope to keep residents off potentially slick and dangerous roads.
But homes and businesses are not the only ones suffering from the power outage. Schools also closed after the North Carolina power outage. With no way to heat or light the rooms, the superintendent felt it was safer to keep kids home.
