Terror as 911 goes down across huge swathes of southern state
A major 911 outage sparked panic across Mississippi and beyond, leaving residents in several southern states without direct access to emergency services.
Mississippi law enforcement offices said the statewide 911 outages were first noticed around 1 p.m. on Thursday and were the result of an 'apparent fiber line cut,' WMC reported.
The Mississippi Department of Public Safety urged anyone experiencing an emergency and unable to reach 911, to contact their local law enforcement agency directly.
Meanwhile, in New Orleans, WVUE reported that the 911 outage impacted multiple Louisiana parishes.
Mississippi officials worked alongside phone service company AT&T to determine the scope of the outages, according to Scott Simmons, director of external affairs at the state's department of emergency management.
AT&T told CNN they were 'aware of service issues for some customers' in areas of both states, adding more information will be released as it becomes available.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves confirmed that the outage affected three southern states.
A major 911 outage sparked panic across Mississippi and beyond, leaving residents in several southern states without direct access to emergency services
Mississippi law enforcement offices said the statewide 911 outages were first noticed around 1 p.m. on Thursday and were the result of an 'apparent fiber line cut,' WMC reported. Pictured: Widespread outages of 911 emergency calling systems in the southern US
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (pictured) confirmed that the outage affected three southern states
'The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency has received reports from AT&T that the company is currently responding to a series of fiber cuts, which are impacting their network in the three states,' he wrote on X.
'AT&T crews are working to assess the damage and restore service as quickly as possible. If you need to report an emergency and are unable to contact 911, please contact your local law enforcement agency directly.'
However, around 4 p.m., the Emergency Communications Center for the City of New Orleans released an update stating that the emergency line was back up and running.
'New Orleans 9-1-1 and 3-1-1 services have been restored and are functioning properly at this time,' the emergency response center wrote on X.
As of 5:05 p.m. on Thursday evening all '911 systems have been restored in Mississippi,' the Mississippi Department of Public Safety wrote on X.
