Utility crews work on a downed power line on Rowan Road Tuesday morning. The damaged power line caused outages in the area, forcing the Sampson County government offices, located at County Complex Road, to close for the day.
Cameron Vann | Sampson Independent
A downed power line near Dairy Queen, at the intersection of Southeast Boulevard and Rowan Road, early Tuesday morning shut down the Sampson County administrative building, and all other county offices located on County Complex Road. Those offices remained closed throughout the day.
The decision to close the departments, which included impacted by the power outage were approved by Sampson County Board of Commissioners’ Chairman Allen McLamb and interim County Manager Nancy Dillman.
Sampson County Public Information Officer Jean Ko confirmed Tuesday morning that all departments, including the Health Department, the Department of Social Services, the Board of Elections, the Veterans Service Office and the administrative office, all located at the county complex, were closed, but she stressed that the outage did not impact county departments located elsewhere.
“The 911 call center, EMS, tax office, Register of Deeds, and Sheriff’s Departments are not affected by this power outage,” Ko stated.
Although there was no power at the Sampson County Schools administrative offices, also in the county complex, the Board of Education carried out their meeting using flashlights.
Ko also noted that the phone systems had been affected by the outage, and encouraged people who needed services by any department located on County Complex Road to use the online portal until further notice.
“We are told that power should be restored by around 2 p.m., but the affected departments will remain closed for the entire day,” added Ko.
According to the Duke Energy Progress outage map, the outage had been limited to most of Rowan Road, and parts of Reedsford and Rackley roads.