A 911 outage impacted multiple states for several hours following fiber cuts within the telecommunications system, officials said Thursday.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said said on social media that 911 systems in his state were impacted following “a series of fiber cuts.”
About two hours later, he announced that the 911 system had been restored “and is now operating as it should throughout our state.”
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency continues to monitor the situation, he said.
In Louisiana, Orleans Parish Communication District Executive Director Karl Fasold said a “major fiber cut” was reported in Mississippi and had “resulted in a 911 outage over most of Louisiana and Mississippi.”
“There’s no indication it was malicious,” Fasold said during a press briefing in New Orleans on Thursday afternoon.
Fasold said his office received notification of the fiber cut at approximately 1:30 p.m. local time. Shortly before 4 p.m., the Orleans Parish Communication District said 911 service has been restored and is “functioning properly at this time.”
It was not immediately clear if 911 service beyond New Orleans had been restored.
In a post on social media, the Alabama 9-1-1 Board said, despite reports to the contrary, there had been no confirmed or reported outages affecting 911 emergency services in that state.
