The FCC has dropped Georgia and South Carolina from its Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) for Hurricane Helene, leaving 21 North Carolina and seven Tennessee counties in the report developed from information that carriers provide to the FCC every day. The agency previously dropped Virginia and some Tennessee counties from the report.
As of Monday, of the 1,448 cell sites impacted by Helene in North Carolina, 209 (14.4 percent) were not working, according to DIRS. The majority had data transport issues and one-third had no power. An additional 105 were on back-up power.
Other DIRS notes include:
- Mitchell County remained the hardest hit, with nine out of 20 sites not working. McDowell was next with 20 out of 83 cell sites not operational.
- In the last report for Georgia, of the 1,450 cell sites impacted by Helene, 98 (6.8 percent) were not working. It was an even split between those that lacked power and those that had data transport issues. An additional 207 sites were on back-up power.
- In Tennessee, of the 425 impacted cell sites, 39 were not operational. Most of those had data transport issues.
- In the last report for South Carolina, of the 7,563 impacted sites, 88 (1.2 percent) were not operational.
- Cable and wireline companies reported 325,348 (down from 332,701 Sunday) subscribers out of service in the disaster area. This includes the loss of telephone, television, and/or internet services.
- Three TV stations in Georgia and two in North Carolina were off-air. The numbers remain the same for FMs off-air: Five each in Georgia and South Carolina, and two in North Carolina. Additionally, Georgia reported five AMs off the air.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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