A power outage in Central North Carolina over the weekend has disrupted daily life, causing officials to create at least one shelter and impose a nighttime curfew that might last the rest of the week as police investigate what caused an entire county to be without electricity.
The outages in Moore County, roughly 90 miles east of Charlotte, have piqued the interest of state officials, including Gov. Roy Cooper, who stated at a press conference on Monday that the attack was deliberate and harmed the whole town.
North Carolina Power Outage
Saturday evening, shortly after 7 pm, the electricity went out. Gunfire damaged two power substations in what State Senator Tom McInnis termed an awful crime" that seemed to be "intentional, purposeful, and malevolent.
There were no early specifics regarding a probable motive or a suspect; the FBI and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation were investigating. It was also unclear whether the vandalism was related to the area's anti-drug show protests.
Customers were gradually regaining power, with around 7,000 connections restored by Sunday night, according to Jeff Brooks, a Duke Energy spokesperson, during a press conference on Monday. Repair crews hoped to restore power to a few thousand more people by the end of Monday, he added.
According to Brooks, the majority of the remaining customers, approximately 38,000, would be without power until repairs were completed, New York Times reported.
Customers may anticipate electricity to be restored in "waves" of a few thousand at a period, according to Brooks. He claimed that power personnel has been working around the clock and that many people live and work in the vicinity. Duke Energy is also collaborating with local, state, and federal authorities to investigate the substation attack.
Moore County has been declared a state of emergency since Sunday. The power loss has shut down the town's wastewater treatment facility and forced schools to close. Moore County Superintendent of Schools Tim Locklair stated on Tuesday that the system hoped to restore normal operations by Friday.
After a lady was discovered dead in a residence without electricity, the county is investigating one fatality that officials believe is tied to the outage. During the press briefing on Tuesday, no cause of death was provided, according to CBS News.
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US Power Grid
Whatever the motive, the shooting serves as a reminder of why experts have emphasized the need of securing the United States electrical infrastructure. Authorities have warned that the country's power grid might be a target for domestic terrorists.
Federal officials have warned that the electrical grid might be a major target for extremist organizations that believe in accelerationism, a fringe doctrine that advocates mass murder to drive society's demise. Domestic extremists have been preparing "credible, detailed plans" to target energy infrastructure since at least 2020, according to a January report from the US Department of Homeland Security.
According to the DHS assessment, radicals of various ideologies will likely continue to plot and incite violent assaults against electrical infrastructure. Without inside aid, attackers would be unlikely to cause broad, multistate failures, according to the agency. However, the research cautioned that an attack might still cause damage and casualties.
White supremacists and anti-government activists have been linked to power grid attacks. Three individuals pled guilty in February to planning to harm US energy infrastructure. Authorities claimed they were motivated by White nationalist ideology to cause havoc and divide among Americans, as per Fox Business.
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