Few 911 Outages After Hurricane Sandy

There has been a “very small” number of 911 center failures in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, according to the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), but at least 25 percent of the affected region’s cellular antenna sites are down, limiting communications. During a conference call yesterday, Julius Genachowski told reporters that some comm centers have re-routed 911 calls to alternate centers, and the ANI/ALI information may not be displayed for every 911 call at some centers. He did not give specific figures for any of the hurricane-related outages. “The storm is not over,” Genachowski said. “Our assumption is that communications outages could get worse before they get better—particularly for mobile.” He said based on mandatory reports from communications carriers, about 25 percent of residents in the region had no cable TV, Internet or telephone service. Genachowski said in some areas, there is no cellular service at all, and residents have no electric power. He urged residents to dial 911 only for life-threatening emergencies, and to use social media for routine communications with friends and family, not wired or wireless telephone networks. Genachowski warned that rain and continued flooding in the next few days could slow the restoration of communications, and that communications might worsen as generators run out of fuel and batteries go dead at communications sites.