The Carolinas had the majority of cell site outages on Monday percentage-wise due to Hurricane Helene, according to the FCC Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS). Carriers reported heavy fiber cuts in the most impacted areas, reported CNN.
Of the 1,452 cell sites in North Carolina impacted by the storm, 784 (nearly 54 percent) were not working Monday. The majority of those had no power and an additional 103 were using back-up power.
In South Carolina, of the 7,478 sites in the areas impacted by Helene, 694 were not working. That’s 9.3 percent, down from 12.7 percent on Sunday. 574 had no power on Monday and another 559 were operating on backup power.
Of a total 14,086 cell sites in the DIRS area of Florida for Hurricane Helene, 91 (0.7 percent) were not working on Monday morning. That’s down from 1.1 percent on Sunday. Most of those had no power and an additional 171 sites were running on back-up power.
Of the 13,083 sites impacted in Georgia, 787 (six percent) were non-operational. That’s down from just over seven percent on Sunday. Most lacked power and an additional 759 were using back-up power.
In Tennessee, of the 669 cell sites in the impacted area, 92 (13.75 percent) were not working. That’s down from 26.3 percent on Sunday. The majority had data transport issues.
In Virginia, of the 1,004 cell sites in DIRS for Helene, 68 were out Monday, or 6.77 percent. That’s down from 19.1 percent on Sunday. The majority lacked power and another 63 were using backup power.
Cable and wireline companies reported 886,139 (down from 1,004,610 Sunday) subscribers out of service in the disaster area. This includes the loss of telephone, television, and/or internet services.
Two TV stations were off-air in Georgia and North Carolina. Eighteen FMs were off the air in Georgia. Nine FMs were off-air in South Carolina, two in North Carolina and one each in Florida and Virginia. Three AMs were off the air in Georgia and two off the air in North and South Carolina.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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