Several states lost access to 911 emergency call services late last night causing many residents not to have any access to emergency services.
Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, and Nevada residents experienced emergency service outages from around 10 p.m. to midnight.
Authorities in Texas reported the outages were due to “an outage with a major cellular carrier” but did not elaborate on which carrier was responsible.
The outages were first reported in Las Vegas, which caused the Las Vegas Police Department to urge those needing emergency services to dial 911, and dispatchers would call them back.
Outages in Texas, Nevada, and Nebraska were only reported in several cities and towns, but South Dakota experienced a state-wide outage.
Potentially thousands of people who tried to dial 911 Wednesday night were left helpless as an outage across parts of four different states — including the entire state of South Dakota — impacted callers. https://t.co/4Z4zyT8pJl pic.twitter.com/ltrZDfmIjp
— ABC News (@ABC) April 18, 2024
Per CBS:
Multiple states lost access to emergency dispatchers late last night, meaning that residents could not call 911.
The issue affected parts of Nebraska, Texas and Nevada, and all of South Dakota. The outage was first reported around 10 p.m. local time. Service was restored around midnight, officials said.
In Texas, the City of Del Rio Police Department said the outage was because of “an outage with a major cellular carrier.” The department did not specify which cellular carrier was responsible.
Affected areas recommended that residents call non-emergency numbers amid the outage.
In Las Vegas, Nevada, officials said that 911 calls from landlines were not working, but that dispatchers could still see incoming calls. Dispatchers worked to call back numbers that dialed in, officials said on social media. According to Henderson County, Nevada officials, texts to the 911 number were coming through even when the phone line wasn’t working.
Hours before the 911 services were disrupted, ABC News released an article stating the Department of Homeland Security is concerned that emergency services are likely targets for cyberattacks.
LOOK:
https://t.co/wfLtlQaEo1 pic.twitter.com/9NHVcKjzVV
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) April 18, 2024
ABC News’s report stemmed from a bulletin the outlet obtained from the DHS that read, “Cybercriminal exploitation of data stolen during ransomware attacks against the Emergency Service Sector (ESS) likely poses a persistent criminal threat due to the exposure and availability of victims’ personal information.”
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