A 911 outage in Mississippi and Louisiana on Thursday left emergency call systems disrupted for several hours before service was restored, officials confirmed.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said on social media that the outage stemmed from “a series of fiber cuts” that temporarily disabled emergency systems across the state. About two hours later, Reeves announced that 911 service was back online statewide and “operating as it should.”
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said it continues to monitor the situation.
Impact Across State Lines
The disruption extended beyond Mississippi. Karl Fasold, executive director of the Orleans Parish Communication District in Louisiana, said a “major fiber cut” in Mississippi had caused a widespread outage across most of Louisiana and Mississippi.
Fasold noted there was no indication of malicious activity. His office was notified of the fiber cut at around 1:30 p.m. local time, and by 4 p.m., he confirmed that New Orleans’ 911 system was fully restored.
It remained unclear Thursday evening whether service had been restored across all Louisiana parishes.
Alabama Not Affected
Meanwhile, the Alabama 9-1-1 Board issued a statement clarifying that, despite some reports, no confirmed outages occurred in Alabama. Emergency services in that state were not impacted by the fiber cuts.
Best Personal Loan 2025: Unlock Financial Freedom with Quicken Loans
Ongoing Monitoring
Officials in both states stressed that they are working with telecommunications providers to ensure stability in the emergency system and to prevent similar disruptions.
