The closing was later extended until noon today. The precautionary measure was ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“This will cause some interruptions in the mail,” Southern Pines Postmaster Scott Lanni told The Pilot.
Officials at Fort Bragg, the largest U.S. military installation, and a neighbor to Moore County, issued a release Tuesday afternoon announcing that the base was taking “appropriate measures to protect the security of the people who live and work on post. We do not discuss specific security measures, however Fort Bragg is moving toward the highest level of force protection.”
The Army is closing the gates around the periphery and limiting access to main roads to the base.
“These protection measures will impact people’s ability to travel freely in and around Fort Bragg,” said a news release. “Soldiers and workers at Fort Bragg should plan on delays at access control points.”
The effects of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington Tuesday were being felt in Moore County.
The Moore County Airport and other local government agencies were besieged with telephone calls from residents wanting information. Some wanted to know about giving blood. Some sought information about missing family or friends in New York and Washington, since telephone lines were jammed and cell phones were useless in reaching people in those cities.
The Moore County Schools were hit with numerous calls from parents wanting to know if schools would be closing early. They did not close early. But all after-school events were canceled Tuesday.
Superintendent Dr. Patrick Russo sent an e-mail to principals of all 22 schools giving them the go-ahead to hold remembrance ceremonies Wednesday morning for people affected by the tragedies.
The terrorist attacks also affected financial institutions that are based in New York, and interrupted plans by politicians.
Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Dole canceled a trip to her native Salisbury in view of the “horrific events this morning in New York and Washington, D.C.”
Several local churches held special prayer services to remember the victims and their families.
Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Southern Pines held a prayer service at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Rev. James D. Franklin Jr., rector.
“Probably everybody will go home and look at it tonight on the news,” Franklin said. “We’ve got school to deal with tomorrow and to explain to children. As a community, we will have to deal with this.”
Prayer services were also held at a number of other churches, including Community Presbyter-ian Church in Pinehurst, Congregational Church of Pinehurst, St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Southern Pines and Spruill Temple in Taylortown.
A service was planned for 8 a.m. today (Wednesday) at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pinehurst. Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Southern Pines is holding a community prayer vigil from 10 a.m. to noon, with a brief prayer service at 11 a.m.
The Moore County chapter of the American Red Cross in Southern Pines is working to set up an emergency blood donation drive. One possible site is the Fitness Center at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital. Blood collectors must come from Durham to draw blood from donors, however, and the blood has to be taken back to Durham’s blood bank to be processed, said Red Cross Executive Director Joan Poole.
“We are in the office around the clock,” Poole said. “We are trying to organize a blood drive in the next two days.”
The time and place will be announced in The Pilot.
Poole said blood donations from previous drives at Southern Pines United Methodist Church, Sandhills Community College and FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital were among 8,000 units already sent by the Durham Red Cross blood bank to New York City for victims of the World Trade Center.
For now, the only direct way to donate blood is to go to the Cape Fear Valley Health System at 3357 Village Drive, Suite 150, in Fayetteville, where the center is “urgently seeking donors for all blood types” in response to the attack. The Center is open for blood donations Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. until noon.
The blood donated now will probably be to shore up gaps in the local blood supply that will be needed for other emergencies, since the center is expecting curtailment of its ordinary blood deliveries due to restricted air transportation service, and will be relying on local blood donors to keep the blood supply replenished.
The North Carolina State Troopers have all been placed on alert and told to be ready to report for duty should an emergency occur in this state, said a spokesman for the Raleigh headquarters. The Moore County Sheriff’s Department, Moore County Emergency Management and National Guard Armory all had people on duty watching television news reports Tuesday morning and waiting for more word.
The Pinehurst Village Council was involved in a work session for two hours Tuesday morning before any member of council learned the news from New York and Washington.
After the council took a brief recess about 11 a.m., Mayor Steve Smith suggested that the meeting be adjourned, and the council immediately agreed.
“There’s nothing that won’t wait till later,” Smith said. Village Manager Andy Wilkison said he would schedule a special work session later to conduct unfinished business from the Tuesday session.
Council members and village staff members returned to the meeting room for the adjournment, wearing stunned looks. Several said they were concerned about relatives and friends in large cities throughout the country.
“Where else will they hit?” Council member Virginia Fallon asked rhetorically.
Smith said he had tickets to a Pittsburgh Steelers football game but would probably not attend, for fear the stadium might come under attack.
Residents of the village who were attending a simultaneous meeting of the Community Appearance Commission in the Village Hall learned of the terrorist attacks about 9 a.m., when a builder who was waiting to talk with a commission panel received a call on his cell phone. The man told others in the room that his wife had just seen reports of the World Trade Center attack on television.
“What we’re doing here shrinks in importance compared to what we’ve heard this morning,” Village Attorney Jack Clayton said.
Some residents of the village called the Village Hall to ask if there were local plans for dealing with the national emergency. Village Clerk Mary McGraw answered the phones and reassured the residents.
