A state of emergency is in effect for Moore County after tens of thousands of customers were left without power in what officials believe stemmed from a targeted attack.
A Duke Energy outage map Saturday evening showed 37,998 customers without power in Moore County; The Randolph Electric Membership Corporation also reported nearly 3,000 customers without power in the southern part of the county. As of Sunday at 5 p.m. over 38,000 people remain without power, according to a Duke Energy outage map.
During a press conference on Sunday, Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said that the power outages began shortly after 7 p.m. on Saturday and impacted most Moore County residents. Firearm damage caused extensive damage to a Moore County substation, according to Fields.