Major 911 outages were reported in multiple US states Wednesday evening, showing how delicate our infrastructure is. Systems like electricity, water, and data are easy targets and have been for years.
911 Outage areas included:
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- South Dakota – entire state
- Nebraska – unknown areas
- Texas – Del Rio and Kilgore.
- Nevada – Las Vegas and surrounding areas
The outages lasted for almost three hours Wednesday evening in South Dakota, and some areas in the country were out for longer.
They are currently saying the outages are related to Lumen Technologies, a service provider. “There was a fiber cut, but they did not disclose the location of the damage.” The 911 systems were likely controlled from a single location, and everything went down when it failed.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday, “When you call 911 in an emergency, it is vital that call goes through. The FCC has already begun investigating the 911 multi-state outages that occurred last night to get to the bottom of the cause and impact.”This is a major issue that needs attention, and it would be helpful if they made the location of the cut known to the public. There are around 5,700 systems that handle 911 calls nationwide.
At one point, officials said emergency personnel were available. That’s great to hear, but if you can’t reach them, they will not be much help.
Unfortunately, in situations like this, you’re on your own.