At Least 4 States Hit By 911 Outages; Services Restored In Some Areas
Landlines and mobile phones were unable to connect to the emergency phone line in parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, and Nevada on Wednesday, with service now partially restored. The cause is being investigated.
Reuters:
US 911 Emergency Call Line Outage Resolved In Some Areas
Emergency services on the 911 telephone call line were restored late on Wednesday in parts of the United States, officials said, following a widespread outage across all of South Dakota and in parts of Nebraska, Nevada and Texas. Officials in South Dakota, Nevada and Las Vegas said 911 services had been restored, but without identifying the cause of the failure. (V, 4/18)
KENS 5 CBS News:
Texas One Of Many States Experiencing 911 Outages
The Del Rio Police Department said an unspecified "major cellular carrier" was to blame. Authorities in the South Texas border city emphasized in a Facebook post that the "issue is with the carrier and not the City of Del Rio systems," urging the public to call 911 with a landline or through a functioning carrier if they have an emergency. (Lynch, 4/17)
In related news about emergency calls —
CBS News:
House Republicans Urge Passage Of $120 Million In Emergency Aid For Ambulance Services In Minnesota
Emergency medical services providers say they need a lifeline from the state legislature this session to the tune of $120 million to keep answering calls for help, especially in rural parts of Minnesota. But a final deal at the capitol could fall short. DFL leaders in the majority and Gov. Tim Walz in their top-line supplemental spending agreement earmarked $16 million instead. (Cummings, 4/17)
