FCC Seeks Comment on Effects of Derecho Storm on Communications

On June 29, 2012, a fast-moving weather storm called a derecho brought a wave of destruction across wide swaths of the United States, beginning in the Midwest and continuing through the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the country. Millions of Americans lost electrical power during the storm for periods ranging from a few hours to over a week in the middle of a heat wave, and the storm caused billions of dollars in physical damage. The storm had a significant adverse effect on communications services generally and 9-1-1 facilities particularly. From isolated breakdowns in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, to systemic failures in northern Virginia and West Virginia, it appears that a significant number of 9-1-1 systems and services were partially or completely down for several days.

The impact of the storm in northern Virginia was particularly severe, notably in Fairfax County, parts of Prince William County, Manassas Park and Manassas, where more than 1 million people faced the possibility of not being able to call 9-1-1 successfully. In those jurisdictions, media reports and local government officials indicate that public safety answering points (PSAPs), which process calls to 9-1-1 facilities, failed, as did backup systems. Multiple access technologies appear to have been affected by the outages, including traditional networks, broadband networks, and wireless networks.

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