News

911 Outages In 4 States As Emergency Call Services Go Down

There has been a 911 outages in 4 states in the US, as emergency call services are temporarily down, according to reports.

Law enforcement agencies in four states were scrambling after reports of major 911 outages that left millions unable to contact authorities late Wednesday.

Many of the outages reported in Nebraska, Nevada, South Dakota, and Texas were resolved by late evening. While officials haven’t revealed what caused the outages, they follow a Department of Homeland Security warning of increased cyberattack risks to 911 services as they transition to internet-based systems.

So far, there is no evidence that the 911 outages overnight were caused by a cyberattack or other malicious act, law enforcement officials told NBC News Thursday.

“We are aware of reports of 911-related outages and are currently investigating,” the Federal Communications Commission said on X Thursday morning.

Less than two months ago, an AT&T outage left thousands without service in multiple states and disrupted some 911 calls for hours, which the carrier said was most likely caused by a process error rather than a cyberattack.

On Wednesday, just before 7 p.m. local time (9 p.m. ET), local law enforcement agencies reported a full statewide outage in South Dakota. Rapid City police provided alternative phone numbers for first responders, and service was restored about two hours later.

The South Dakota Department of Public Safety announced Wednesday evening that “texting to 9-1-1 is operating in most locations” as a way to contact authorities.

Sioux Falls Fire Assistant Chief Mike Gramlick stated in a news conference Thursday that the outage was confirmed at 7:59 p.m. local time and was restored to full capacity by 10:38 p.m.

“During the duration of the outage, Metro Communications received 112 calls for service” that came through via open line numbers and texting 911, he said.

Gramlick added, “For reference, Metro Communications typically receives 114 calls during the same time period each day and week.” To our knowledge, we have never had an outage of this size or duration.”

The city also sent out a wireless emergency alert to inform the public about the 911 system outage. Officials said they didn’t know why, but the “service provider” is looking into it.

In Nevada, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police announced around 7 p.m. local time (10 p.m. ET) that “there is a 911 outage impacting your ability to contact us right now.” Locals were advised to dial 911 on mobile devices, which dispatch could see and call back, as calls from landlines “are NOT working at the moment.”

Calls were operational again by 9 p.m. (midnight ET). “All the individuals who called during the outage have been called back and provided assistance,” the department said in a statement.

Some agencies claimed the problem was with wireless carriers.