North Carolina police investigating power outages as intentional vandalism

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North Carolina police investigating power outages as intentional vandalism

The sheriff of Moore County said in a statement late Saturday that authorities were investigating widespread power outages in south-central North Carolina overnight as intentional criminal acts.

An estimated 45,000 customers were without electricity late Saturday, with no estimate on a restoration time because a number of facilities are involved and the work will be complicated, said Jeff Brooks, a spokesman for Duke Energy.

Nearly 38,000 customers were without power in Moore County, while the Randolph Electric Membership Corporation reported outages affected nearly 3,000 customers in the county s southern area, according to WRAL-TV.

The Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields and Brooks report that the potential cause of the outages could be vandalism. Brooks said he could not describe the nature of the crime.

Sewer lift stations were out of order and authorities advised residents to stay off the roads. The Southern Pines administration said in a statement on Facebook that there are multiple accidents that have occurred.

The late-night blackout for Moore County appeared to be new territory for Duke and law enforcement, while typical outages in North Carolina are often resolved within an hour.

The outages involve multiple substations that are affected, according to Brooks. We can't estimate when power will be restored until we understand the scope of the damage. The outages began around 7 p.m. in Moore County.

As utility companies responded to the different substations, evidence was discovered that intentional vandalism had occurred at multiple sites, Fields said.

The field office of the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security didn't respond immediately to questions about whether they were investigating the outages.

Local authorities were out in force in communities affected by the outages. It wasn't clear whether this was to dissuade looting or as part of the investigation.

The Village of Pinehurst said additional police were on the streets overnight and urged residents to stay home.

The village said officers were called in to assist. Please keep off the roads if you can and treat all intersections as four way stops.