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With the widespread gas outage that occurred Tuesday night, impacting about 3,000 customers, Piedmont Natural Gas anticipates starting to restore service to customers on Thursday.

Some service might not be fully restored until Friday.

PNG has been on-site since last night and additional crews have been called in from across the Carolinas, according to the company.

“This is a little bit of coordination” in relighting customers’ service, “but we’re going to do it as safely and efficiently as possible,” PNG spokesperson Zachary Vavricka said.

As the work progresses, PNG will continue to talk with customers, updating them on the restoration process, Vavricka said.

“We appreciate our customers and community’s patience as we work to restore service,” he added, noting that safety is “the number one priority.”

Stanly County is in the process of establishing a warming shelter for people without heat, according to County Manager Andy Lucas. More details should be shared as soon as possible on social media concerning the location of the shelter.

A natural gas transmission main line was struck by a contractor on Barbees Grove Road near N.C. Highway 138 in Oakboro Tuesday evening. Several schools have closed Wednesday as a result and several businesses and organizations, including the Stanly County Senior Center, have been impacted.

In a post on Facebook, the Senior Center encouraged people planning to attend activities at the site to “dress warm.”