Moore County substation attacks: Power back on; grocery gift cards available for residents

Associated Press and Fayetteville Observer staff reports
·2 min read
Librarian Missy Miller helps a woman help charge her cellphone at Southern Pines Public Library on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. Power is out in parts of Moore County due to an attack on power substations on Saturday night.
Librarian Missy Miller helps a woman help charge her cellphone at Southern Pines Public Library on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. Power is out in parts of Moore County due to an attack on power substations on Saturday night.

Power has been restored in Moore County after a Saturday evening attack on two substations left tens of thousands in the central North Carolina county without power.

Almost all households in Moore County had regained power as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to Duke Energy’s outage map. A peak of more than 45,000 customers lost power over the weekend. Only six outages were showing on poweroutage.us as of 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

The state of emergency expired at 5 a.m. Thursday, according to a Moore County news release, and the shelter at the Moore County Sports Complex-Recreation Center will close at noon Thursday.

Schools are closed through Thursday. The Moore County school district said it intends to bring students back on Friday but will wait until Thursday afternoon to make that determination.

More:In light of Moore Co. attacks, how safe are Fayetteville area substations?

More:Moore County substation attacks: Almost all power restored

FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital, a 402-bed acute care facility in Pinehurst, regained power shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday and gradually transitioned from emergency generators to normal power, the hospital website said.

Here's what else to know Thursday:

Gift card giveaway

Food Lion is donating $30,000 in gift cards to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina to help Moore County residents, according to a news release from the North Carolina-based grocery store chain.

The $20 gift cards will be available at the following locations while supplies last:

• West End United Methodist Church, 4015 NC 73, West End

• Pine Bluff United Methodist Church, 165 W. Philadelphia Ave., Pinebluff

• Carthage United Methodist Church, 108 Bruce St., Carthage

• Vass Community Food Pantry, 3450 U.S. Business 1, Vass

• Blue Angel Outreach, 5 American Legion Lane, Pinehurst

• Southern Pines United Methodist Church, 175 Midland Road, Southern Pines

Help for local business

The Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau has launched a website with links to local businesses so people can purchase gift cards or otherwise support local businesses during the holiday season, according to a news release from the visitors bureau. The website, HomeofGolf.com/MooreMiracles, provides links to area shops, restaurants and hotels that lost business during the holiday shopping season, season.

“For many of our local businesses, the holiday season is their most profitable part of their year and a loss of several days of revenue is a huge blow to them,” said Phil Werz, president and CEO of the Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We encourage people to go to the website, buy a gift card, or several, and support our local businesses that need the cash flow now. Better yet, plan a visit to Moore County and support our local businesses by shopping, dining and staying overnight.”

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Power restored in Moore County, NC