UPDATE Overall, 0.4 percent of the cell sites in the affected areas of Florida and South Carolina are out of service following flooding from Tropical Storm Debby, according to the FCC’s Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS). Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane Monday morning in Florida, Inside Towers reported.
Of the 9,987 cell sites in the impacted areas of Florida, 46 (0.5 percent) were not operating as of Wednesday morning. Most of those outages were due to lack of power. Jefferson and Lafayette Counties had the most outage percentages. Out of 36 sites in Jefferson, three (8.33 percent) were not working, according to DIRS. Out of 20 sites in Lafayette, one (5 percent) was out. That compares to nine sites in Jefferson and one in Lafayette on Tuesday.
The FCC added 27 counties in South Carolina to the impacted areas for its Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS.) They are: Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dillion, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Hampton, Horry, Jasper, Kershaw, Lee, Lexington, Marion, Marlboro, Orangeburg, Richland, Sumter, and Williamsburg.
Out of 3,479 total cell sites in the impacted areas of South Carolina, just four (0.4 percent) were not operating on Wednesday. That’s down from 15 the previous day. Charleston County had the most out in one county – four-cell sites out of 461 on Wednesday.
Cable and wireline companies reported 17,344 subscribers (down from 22,422 Tuesday) out of service in the disaster area for Hurricane Debby. This includes the loss of telephone, television, and/or internet services.
No 911 call centers were reported as being impacted in either Florida or South Carolina yesterday. No television stations were off-air in those states.
In Florida, WAKU-FM is off-air and WGLF-FM is also off-air with its programming being sent to another station, according to DIRS. No FM stations in South Carolina were reported to be off-air. No AM stations were off the air in both states.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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