The storm that began as Hurricane Lane and ended as a tropical depression had minimal impact on communications in the Hawaiian Islands, according to reports that providers gave to the FCC. More than 99 percent of the cell towers on all eight islands remained operational as of yesterday, August 26, according to the FCC’s Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS). All five counties in the state are included: Hawaii, Honolulu, Kalawao, Kauai and Maui. Lane was downgraded to a tropical storm on Saturday and to a tropical depression on Sunday. DIRS for Lane was discontinued as of yesterday.
Overall, eight cell sites (0.6 percent) out of a total of 1,287 remained out in Hawaii as of yesterday afternoon — the same amount as Friday. In Honolulu County, four out of 748 cell sites were not working. Two cell sites were restored by Sunday in Maui County, with two out of 161 remaining out of operation. By Sunday, one cell site was restored in Hawaii County, where 264 remained operational, and two were not.
Cable and wireline systems took a hit, with 16,417 cable and wireline subscribers affected by Saturday afternoon. However by Sunday, that number was cut to 3,991 affected subscribers.
Regarding broadcasters, 15 TV stations, 37 FMs and 13 AMs were operational as of Sunday afternoon. Off the air were: one TV station, six FMs and one AM. Direct FCC monitoring confirmed all four local primary AM EAS stations were on-air.
August 27, 2018
