#moore county

On Saturday night (3 December), around 37,998 customers were left without electricity in North Carolina’s Moore County, according to CNN.

But it wasn’t just any power outage, as Moore County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a Facebook post: “As utility companies began responding to the different substations, evidence was discovered that indicated that intentional vandalism had occurred at multiple sites.”

“Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields reports that the mass power outage across the county is being investigated as a criminal occurrence,” the sheriff’s office added.

On the evening of the power cut, North Carolina anti-LGBTQ+ activist Emily Grace Rainey shared a Facebook post which simply read: “The power is out in Moore County and I know why.”

Shortly afterwards, she shared a photo of Moore County’s Sunrise theatre, which was set to host a drag show that evening, shrouded in darkness. She added the caption: “God will not be mocked.”

Rainey had been vocal on social media about her opposition to the drag performance, describing it as “depraved”, and an example of “grooming”.

On Sunday (4 December), Rainey reported that she had been visited by police officers in relation to the power outage.

“I welcomed them to my home,” she wrote on Facebook.

“Sorry they wasted their time. I told them that God works in mysterious ways and is responsible for the outage. I used the opportunity to tell them about the immoral drag show and the blasphemies screamed by its supporters.

“God is chastising Moore County. I thanked them for coming and wished them a good night.”

It is unclear whether the police investigation into the power cut is thought to be related to the drag performance.

Chief Mike Cameron of the Southern Pines Fire and Rescue Department told The Pilot that the substations had been damaged with guns, and a reporter for the local paper said the areas were being searched for bullet casings.

The sheriff’s office said it will give more information on the ongoing investigation at a press conference on Sunday afternoon.

Some updates:

Two substations damaged.

~40,000 without power.

State of Emergency declared, and a curfew (9pm-5am) in effect.

Moore County schools will be closed tomorrow (Monday, December 5th).  Tuesday’s status is yet to be determined.

Due to the extent of the damage, power may not be fully restored until Thursday (December 8th).

🎀 NEW VIDEO 🎀 we've heard about the attack on the power substations in Moore County, North Carolina that people allege was to shut down a drag event - but that wasn't the only one.

the pacific northwest actually experienced 6 instances of attacks/vandalism on power substations this November and, unsurprisingly, neo-nazis have been sharing materials about how to do just that - as well as celebrating what happened in Moore

There's a lot of misinformation circulating after the possible domestic terrorism here in North Carolina.

Queerphobic people nationwide want to make queer people feel unsafe in public. And they are willing to punish people who are not queer, but are accepting of queer people. The assholes in Moore County don't care that they are harming, possibly even killing, straight people. They want to harm queer people, and make it unbearable to be an out queer person, at any and all costs.

The only way to stop them is to go beyond holding them accountable, it's to proactively stand with queer people and to join hands with us. Together we can stop these sorts of people and prevent people from becoming like this, but queerphobic people, particularly extremists and inciters who are willing to commit crimes to stop society from accepting and caring about queer people, are counting on their fellow straight people not calling out their intolerance.

Power will be restored for most customers by Wednesday night after a “targeted” attack on two electric substations over the weekend caused widespread outages and shut down schools across one county in North Carolina, officials said Tuesday.

"With around 10,000 customers restored so far, Duke Energy anticipates having nearly all customers restored by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday in the aftermath of an attack on two major substations Saturday in Moore County," the utility tweeted.

As of early Tuesday afternoon, more than 34,000 utility customers in Moore County were still without power, according to Duke Energy's online outage tracker. The company serves a total of 47,018 in the county.

"Crews are working 24-hour shifts to make repairs and restore service to all impacted customers," the company said. "Several large and vital pieces of equipment were damaged in the event and need to be repaired or replaced."

Officials haven't been able to confirm if there were any fatalities resulting from the outage, but said they're investigating the death of one resident who lived in an area with no power.