Shootings at power substations cause North Carolina outages - The Associated Press - en Español

CARTHAGE, N.C. (AP) — Two powerfulness substations successful a North Carolina region were damaged by gunfire successful what is being investigated arsenic a transgression act, causing harm that could instrumentality days to repair and leaving tens of thousands of radical without electricity, authorities said Sunday.

In effect to ongoing outages, which began conscionable aft 7 p.m. Saturday crossed Moore County, officials announced a authorities of exigency that included a curfew from 9 p.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday. Also, region schools volition beryllium closed Monday.

“An onslaught similar this connected captious infrastructure is simply a serious, intentional transgression and I expect authorities and national authorities to thoroughly analyse and bring those liable to justice,” Gov. Roy Cooper wrote connected Twitter.

Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said astatine a Sunday quality league that authorities person not determined a motivation. He said idiosyncratic pulled up and “opened occurrence connected the substation, the aforesaid happening with the different one.”

“No radical has stepped up to admit oregon judge that they’re the ones that done it,” Fields said, adding “we’re looking astatine each avenues.”

The sheriff noted that the FBI was moving with authorities investigators to find who was responsible. He besides said “it was targeted.”

“It wasn’t random,” Fields said.

Fields said instrumentality enforcement is providing information astatine the substations and for businesses overnight.

“We volition person folks retired determination contiguous astir the clock,” Fields said.

Roughly 36,000 electrical customers successful the region were without powerfulness connected Sunday evening, according to poweroutage.us.

With acold temperatures forecast for Sunday night, the region besides opened a structure astatine a sports analyzable successful Carthage.

Duke Energy spokesperson Jeff Brooks said aggregate pieces of instrumentality were damaged and volition person to beryllium replaced. He said portion the institution is trying to reconstruct powerfulness arsenic rapidly arsenic possible, helium braced customers for the imaginable of outages lasting days.

“We are looking astatine a beauteous blase repair with immoderate reasonably ample instrumentality and truthful we bash privation citizens of the municipality to beryllium prepared that this volition beryllium a multiday restoration for astir customers, extending perchance arsenic agelong arsenic Thursday,” Brooks said astatine the quality conference.

Dr. Tim Locklear, the county’s schoolhouse superintendent, announced classes volition beryllium canceled Monday.

“As we determination forward, we’ll beryllium taking it time by time successful making those decisions,” Locklear said.

The Pilot paper successful Southern Pines reported that 1 of its journalists saw a gross to 1 of the substations had been damaged and was lying successful an entree road.

“A rod holding up the gross had intelligibly been snapped disconnected wherever it meets the ground. The substation’s infrastructure was heavy damaged,” the paper reported.

The region of astir 100,000 radical lies astir an hour’s thrust southwest of Raleigh and is known for play resorts successful Pinehurst and different communities.