RALEIGH, N.C. — There's some good news for those in Moore County who lost food due to the substation attacks that left the county in the dark for days, leading to the loss of refrigerated items for many.

Thanks to the approval of two U.S. Department of Agriculture waivers, people who receive Food and Nutrition Service benefits from the state will have some funds to replace items lost during the outage, which lasted from Dec. 3 to Dec. 7. 

All food and nutritional benefits recipients in Moore County will receive a percentage of their benefits automatically added to their Electronic Benefit Transfer card Tuesday and Wednesday.

The amount of replacement benefits depends on when a household received its benefits (between Nov. 4 and Dec. 3). Recipients in Moore County will have until Jan. 3, 2023 to submit a statement of loss to request additional FNS replacement benefits, if they experienced lost food worth more than the automatic replacement amount. 

To report any food loss and find out if you qualify for additional replacement benefits, recipients can call The Moore County Department of Social Services, visit Moore County DSS in-person to complete and sign a statement, mail or fax their completed statement to Moore County DSS.

If a household submits a statement claiming losses greater than the amount automatically replaced on their EBT card, the household can only receive the difference between the requested amount and the amount that was automatically replaced. Replacement benefits cannot exceed the maximum monthly benefit for the FNS household. 

FNS recipients in Moore County can contact the Moore County DSS, if they have questions. 

The investigation into what authorities have called an intentional attack, which involved someone firing shots into two different Duke Energy substations, continues. The attacks left 45,000 customers without electricity for four days. The FBI, the North Carolina SBI and the Moore County Sheriff’s Office are working on the investigation, and the governor has offered a $75,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever was responsible for the attack.