Verizon outage may have impacted 911 calls

Verizon's network was down for much of Wednesday, the company eventually announcing that it had been restored at 10:20 p.m. ET / 7:20 p.m. PT. Thousands of users across the U.S. were left with their phones in SOS mode due to this outage, meaning they could only make emergency calls. Well, at least in theory. In practice, some attempts to contact 911 reportedly struggled to get through.

Though the Verizon mobile network was down for hours, one silver lining was that 911 calls should have still worked. Calls to emergency services can connect to any mobile tower, helping ensure customers of a downed network aren't cut off from help.

Unfortunately, it seems the system might not have worked entirely as intended. Some Verizon users claimed this outage prevented them from calling 911, while multiple official emergency services recommended contacting them via alternate means.

"This light caught fire today and my family was unable to call 911 because of @Verizon's incompetency," X user @OmarMKAhmad alleged, sharing a photograph of a burnt and melted ceiling light. "Thankfully our cleaners happened to be at the house (who have @TMobile) and called 911."

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The Office of Unified Communications (OUC) acknowledged the then ongoing Verizon outage on Wednesday evening via X, warning that the outage was impacting some people attempting to call for emergency services. It also sent a message via AlertDC, the District of Columbia’s official emergency notification system.

"OUC is aware of a nationwide Verizon outage affecting some users trying to reach 911," wrote OUC. "If you have an emergency and cannot connect using your Verizon device, please connect using a device from another carrier, a landline, or go to a police or fire station to report the emergency."

New York's official emergency notification system addressed Verizon's outage as well. Notify NYC stated that the issue "may affect some users trying to call 911," and also recommended people who require emergency services reach out via a different network or a landline, or alternatively seek help in person. Fortunately, people in New York can also use LinkNYC kiosks or FDNY call boxes to contact emergency services. 

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