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Tag: outage

  • Northern California storm coverage: Zero-visibility snow shuts down I-80, Highway 50

    A storm that is dumping piles of Sierra snow and soaking rain on the Northern California region is expected to bring more on Tuesday.The KCRA 3 weather team issued an Alert Day for Tuesday because of how risky conditions could be. Travel in and out of the Sierra is highly discouraged.Find a full forecast here.Track Doppler radar, traffic and rain totals hereSee road conditions here.See school closings here.See viewer videos here. Scroll below for live weather updates as they happenChain controls are in effect for highways in the Sierra, which could receive several feet of snow through Wednesday, especially at higher elevations. When chain controls are in effect, all vehicles except those with four-wheel-drive and snow tires equipped are required to install chains. Speed limits are also reduced during chain controls. On Interstate 80, the speed limit becomes 30 mph, while on Highway 50, it becomes 25 mph.Rain totals will not be as ample as snow amounts, but enough rain will fall to keep the roads soaked and possibly cause minor flooding. But rivers and creeks are not expected to flood.The National Weather Service also issued a Wind Advisory from 10 a.m. Monday through 10 p.m. Wednesday because of wind gusts of up to 35-45 mph. Power outages and downed tree limbs are possible, and winds may blow loose objects around.Live updatesTuesday9:30 a.m.: Road officials are holding traffic on Highway 50 from Echo Summit to Meyers due to multiple vehicle spinouts. There is no estimated time of reopening.9:20 a.m.: The Sierra Avalanche Center issued an avalanche warning for parts of the area that include Truckee, Lake Tahoe and the areas south of the lake. The warning is in effect through 4 a.m. Wednesday.8:50 a.m.: These are highway conditions as of this writing.Interstate 80The road remains shut down from Colfax to the Nevada state line. Chains are required from 3.4 miles east of Gold Run in Placer County to the Nevada state line.Highway 50Chains are required from 4 miles east of Placerville to Meyers.Highway 88The road is closed from 3.5 miles east of Silver Lake to Kirkwood in Amador County due to snow. Chains are required from 9 miles east of Pine Grove in Amador County to 3.5 miles east of Silver Lake in Amador County.Highway 89The road is closed at Emerald Bay State Park due to snow.Chains are required from 5 miles north of the Highway 50 junction to D.L. Bliss State Park in El Dorado County. Chain controls are also in effect from Truckee to the Sierra-Plumas County line.Highway 4Chains are required from Arnold to the Mt. Reba turnoff in Calaveras County.Highway 20Eastbound lanes are closed to all big rigs at Nevada Street in Nevada City due to snow.7:42 a.m.: According to Caltrans, eastbound Interstate 80 is closed to all traffic at Colfax, and westbound lanes remain closed to all traffic at the Nevada state line.Eastbound traffic at Applegate also remains closed to all trucks.7:15 a.m.: Caltrans is holding westbound Interstate 80 traffic at the Nevada state line due to multiple spinouts. No estimated time of reopening was released.All trucks heading eastbound on I-80 are being stopped at Applegate as traction issues worsen.7 a.m.: These are highway conditions as of this writing.Interstate 80 Chains are required from 3.4 miles east of Gold Run in Placer County to the Nevada state line.Highway 50Chains are required from 3 miles east of Placerville to Meyers.Highway 88The road is closed from 3.5 miles east of Silver Lake to Kirkwood in Amador County due to snow. Chains are required from Pine Grove to 1 mile west of Woodford in Alpine County.Highway 89The road is closed at Emerald Bay State Park due to snow.Chains are required from Picketts Junction to the Alpine-El Dorado County line. Chain controls are also in effect from D.L. Bliss State Park to Olympic Valley, as well as from Truckee to the Sierra-Plumas County line.Highway 4Chains are required from Arnold to the Mt. Reba turnoff in Calaveras County.6:25 a.m.: Interstate 80 and Highway 50 are open, but Highways 88, 89 and 4 are closed amid snowy conditions.Monday11:02 p.m.: Eastbound I-80 remains closed from Colfax to the Nevada State Line due to spinouts. 10:17 p.m.: Traffic is moving again on Highway 50 with chain controls in effect from Twin Bridges to Meyers, according to Caltrans. 9:23 p.m.: More than 3,420 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers in El Dorado County are without power after a tree made contact with a powerline. Power restoration is expected just before midnight. In Calaveras County, 4,454 customers lost power as a result of an unplanned outage. Power was expected to be restored at 2:45 a.m.Learn more. 8:44 p.m. A viewer sent us video of a high school soccer game that happened in the snow in Tuolumne today. 8:43 p.m.: Westbound Highway 50 is closed from Meyers to Twin Bridges in El Dorado County due to multiple spin-outs. 8 p.m.: Heather Waldman is giving a live update on Facebook and YouTube. 6:50 p.m.: The Pollock Pines Elementary School District and Silver Fork Elementary School District have canceled classes on Tuesday because of weather conditions. See more school closures here. 6:33 p.m.: Eastbound traffic on Interstate 80 is being held at Colfax after multiple spinouts. Highway 49, north of Crystal Boulevard, is also closed for a deadly crash investigation. Two people inside a vehicle died after a head-on collision. Another driver suffered major injuries. 5:21 p.m.: Michelle Bandur caught up with a kid braving the snowstorm in shorts. 4:46 p.m.: Brian Hickey shows what conditions are like for skiers at Palisades Tahoe in the video below. 4 p.m.: Here’s a look at the latest conditions in the Sierra below. 3:32 p.m.: Highway 88 is back open at Carson Spur after being closed for avalanche control. 1:35 p.m.: These are the current chain controls as of this writing.Interstate 80Eastbound: Chains are required from the Nevada state line to 2.1 miles east of Baxter in Placer County.Westbound: Chains are required from 2.1 miles east of Baxter in Placer County to the Nevada state line.Highway 50Chains are required from Twin Bridges to Meyers.Highway 89Chains are required from D.L Bliss State Park in El Dorado County to the I-80 junction.Highway 88Chains are required from Ham’s Station to Picketts Junction in Amador County.Highway 20Chains are required from Washington Road to the I-80 junction in Nevada County. The roads are also closed to eastbound traffic from Nevada Street in Nevada City to the I-80 junction while officials are performing a vehicle recovery.1:02 p.m.: Caltrans is holding traffic on westbound Highway 50 in Meyers for snow operations. It anticipates a reopening time of 2 p.m.The agency is also holding eastbound traffic at Twin Bridges but did not give an estimated time of reopening.12:35 p.m.: Reporter Michelle Bandur was at I-80 and Colfax when officials reopened the highway. Roads were shut down temporarily after multiple spinouts and crashes.11:38 a.m.: Caltrans said eastbound Highway 20 is closed from Nevada Street in Nevada City to the Interstate 80 junction. Westbound lanes are open.11:31 a.m.: Both directions of Interstate 80 from Colfax to the Nevada state line are closed due to multiple spinouts and crashes. Eastbound lines are being held at the state line, while westbound lanes are being held at Colfax.An estimated time of reopening was not given, but Caltrans said to expect significant delays.10:49 a.m.: Eastbound Interstate 80 at Colfax Road is closed due to vehicle spinouts. There is no estimated time of reopening.10:18 a.m.: Caltrans said big rigs are being held eastbound on Interstate 80 at Applegate due to weather conditions.10 a.m.: These are the current chain controls as of this writing.Interstate 80Chains are required from 2.1 miles east of Baxter in Placer County to the Nevada state line.Highway 50Chains are required from Twin Bridges to Meyers.Highway 20Chains are required from Washington Road to the I-80 junction in Nevada County.9:29 a.m.: Westbound Interstate 80 traffic in the Truckee area is again closed due to spinouts. There is no estimated time of reopening.9:19 a.m.: Road officials release westbound Interstate 80 traffic at Truckee after multiple spinouts were cleared.8:50 a.m.: Meteorologist Tamara Berg shares 24-hour rain totals as of 8:30 a.m. Monday.8:44 a.m.: Westbound Interstate 80 traffic at Truckee is being held due to multiple vehicle spinouts, Caltrans said.8:30 a.m.: These are the current chain controls as of this writing.Interstate 80Chains are required from 2.1 miles east of Baxter in Placer County to Truckee in Nevada County.Highway 50Chains are required from Twin Bridges to Meyers.8 a.m.: See storm coverage from the beginning of our 8 a.m. newscast.7:30 a.m.: Get a look at conditions in Soda Springs during a 7:30 a.m. live hit.7:25 a.m.: These are the current chain controls as of this writing.Interstate 80Chains are required from 2.1 miles east of Baxter in Placer County to Truckee in Nevada County.Highway 50Chains are required from Twin Bridges to Meyers.7:20 a.m.: According to an outage map, about 3,500 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers in Calaveras County are without power. The estimated time of restoration is 10 a.m. The cause of the outage has not been released.7 a.m.: See storm coverage from the beginning of our 7 a.m. newscast in the video player below.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    A storm that is dumping piles of Sierra snow and soaking rain on the Northern California region is expected to bring more on Tuesday.

    The KCRA 3 weather team issued an Alert Day for Tuesday because of how risky conditions could be. Travel in and out of the Sierra is highly discouraged.

    Chain controls are in effect for highways in the Sierra, which could receive several feet of snow through Wednesday, especially at higher elevations.

    When chain controls are in effect, all vehicles except those with four-wheel-drive and snow tires equipped are required to install chains. Speed limits are also reduced during chain controls. On Interstate 80, the speed limit becomes 30 mph, while on Highway 50, it becomes 25 mph.

    Rain totals will not be as ample as snow amounts, but enough rain will fall to keep the roads soaked and possibly cause minor flooding. But rivers and creeks are not expected to flood.

    The National Weather Service also issued a Wind Advisory from 10 a.m. Monday through 10 p.m. Wednesday because of wind gusts of up to 35-45 mph. Power outages and downed tree limbs are possible, and winds may blow loose objects around.

    Live updates

    Tuesday

    9:30 a.m.: Road officials are holding traffic on Highway 50 from Echo Summit to Meyers due to multiple vehicle spinouts. There is no estimated time of reopening.

    9:20 a.m.: The Sierra Avalanche Center issued an avalanche warning for parts of the area that include Truckee, Lake Tahoe and the areas south of the lake. The warning is in effect through 4 a.m. Wednesday.

    8:50 a.m.: These are highway conditions as of this writing.

    Interstate 80

    The road remains shut down from Colfax to the Nevada state line.

    Chains are required from 3.4 miles east of Gold Run in Placer County to the Nevada state line.

    Highway 50

    Chains are required from 4 miles east of Placerville to Meyers.

    Highway 88

    The road is closed from 3.5 miles east of Silver Lake to Kirkwood in Amador County due to snow.

    Chains are required from 9 miles east of Pine Grove in Amador County to 3.5 miles east of Silver Lake in Amador County.

    Highway 89

    The road is closed at Emerald Bay State Park due to snow.

    Chains are required from 5 miles north of the Highway 50 junction to D.L. Bliss State Park in El Dorado County. Chain controls are also in effect from Truckee to the Sierra-Plumas County line.

    Highway 4

    Chains are required from Arnold to the Mt. Reba turnoff in Calaveras County.

    Highway 20

    Eastbound lanes are closed to all big rigs at Nevada Street in Nevada City due to snow.

    7:42 a.m.: According to Caltrans, eastbound Interstate 80 is closed to all traffic at Colfax, and westbound lanes remain closed to all traffic at the Nevada state line.

    Eastbound traffic at Applegate also remains closed to all trucks.

    7:15 a.m.: Caltrans is holding westbound Interstate 80 traffic at the Nevada state line due to multiple spinouts. No estimated time of reopening was released.

    All trucks heading eastbound on I-80 are being stopped at Applegate as traction issues worsen.

    7 a.m.: These are highway conditions as of this writing.

    Interstate 80

    Chains are required from 3.4 miles east of Gold Run in Placer County to the Nevada state line.

    Highway 50

    Chains are required from 3 miles east of Placerville to Meyers.

    Highway 88

    The road is closed from 3.5 miles east of Silver Lake to Kirkwood in Amador County due to snow.

    Chains are required from Pine Grove to 1 mile west of Woodford in Alpine County.

    Highway 89

    The road is closed at Emerald Bay State Park due to snow.

    Chains are required from Picketts Junction to the Alpine-El Dorado County line. Chain controls are also in effect from D.L. Bliss State Park to Olympic Valley, as well as from Truckee to the Sierra-Plumas County line.

    Highway 4

    Chains are required from Arnold to the Mt. Reba turnoff in Calaveras County.

    6:25 a.m.: Interstate 80 and Highway 50 are open, but Highways 88, 89 and 4 are closed amid snowy conditions.

    Monday

    11:02 p.m.: Eastbound I-80 remains closed from Colfax to the Nevada State Line due to spinouts.

    10:17 p.m.: Traffic is moving again on Highway 50 with chain controls in effect from Twin Bridges to Meyers, according to Caltrans.

    9:23 p.m.: More than 3,420 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customers in El Dorado County are without power after a tree made contact with a powerline.

    Power restoration is expected just before midnight.

    In Calaveras County, 4,454 customers lost power as a result of an unplanned outage. Power was expected to be restored at 2:45 a.m.

    Learn more.

    8:44 p.m. A viewer sent us video of a high school soccer game that happened in the snow in Tuolumne today.

    8:43 p.m.: Westbound Highway 50 is closed from Meyers to Twin Bridges in El Dorado County due to multiple spin-outs.

    8 p.m.: Heather Waldman is giving a live update on =AZbHLHfLWIJRKEsfm-jXFnrkYwlON399ClGSyG4kHS6YU7lF3KuiW_qTIyAbJnRN5o4DAYbjWJKD1286mq4jjc-J-0xkU1dyR3XvJq2KyVr8m3RVzitM3GqosIFlvxaqYbSHH7PMo2CI-h4lhGOC96BpyPAVlaAw-YtJ82weURYc4TzPSKP7ubQuDysPKmTdL5bDxfNv9kURKDiAo6W4AH4u&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R” target=”_blank”>Facebook and YouTube.

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    6:50 p.m.: The Pollock Pines Elementary School District and Silver Fork Elementary School District have canceled classes on Tuesday because of weather conditions.

    See more school closures here.

    6:33 p.m.: Eastbound traffic on Interstate 80 is being held at Colfax after multiple spinouts.

    Highway 49, north of Crystal Boulevard, is also closed for a deadly crash investigation. Two people inside a vehicle died after a head-on collision. Another driver suffered major injuries.

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    5:21 p.m.: Michelle Bandur caught up with a kid braving the snowstorm in shorts.

    4:46 p.m.: Brian Hickey shows what conditions are like for skiers at Palisades Tahoe in the video below.

    4 p.m.: Here’s a look at the latest conditions in the Sierra below.

    3:32 p.m.: Highway 88 is back open at Carson Spur after being closed for avalanche control.

    1:35 p.m.: These are the current chain controls as of this writing.

    Interstate 80

    Eastbound: Chains are required from the Nevada state line to 2.1 miles east of Baxter in Placer County.

    Westbound: Chains are required from 2.1 miles east of Baxter in Placer County to the Nevada state line.

    Highway 50

    Chains are required from Twin Bridges to Meyers.

    Highway 89

    Chains are required from D.L Bliss State Park in El Dorado County to the I-80 junction.

    Highway 88

    Chains are required from Ham’s Station to Picketts Junction in Amador County.

    Highway 20

    Chains are required from Washington Road to the I-80 junction in Nevada County. The roads are also closed to eastbound traffic from Nevada Street in Nevada City to the I-80 junction while officials are performing a vehicle recovery.

    1:02 p.m.: Caltrans is holding traffic on westbound Highway 50 in Meyers for snow operations. It anticipates a reopening time of 2 p.m.

    The agency is also holding eastbound traffic at Twin Bridges but did not give an estimated time of reopening.

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    12:35 p.m.: Reporter Michelle Bandur was at I-80 and Colfax when officials reopened the highway. Roads were shut down temporarily after multiple spinouts and crashes.

    11:38 a.m.: Caltrans said eastbound Highway 20 is closed from Nevada Street in Nevada City to the Interstate 80 junction. Westbound lanes are open.

    11:31 a.m.: Both directions of Interstate 80 from Colfax to the Nevada state line are closed due to multiple spinouts and crashes. Eastbound lines are being held at the state line, while westbound lanes are being held at Colfax.

    An estimated time of reopening was not given, but Caltrans said to expect significant delays.

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    10:49 a.m.: Eastbound Interstate 80 at Colfax Road is closed due to vehicle spinouts. There is no estimated time of reopening.

    10:18 a.m.: Caltrans said big rigs are being held eastbound on Interstate 80 at Applegate due to weather conditions.

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    10 a.m.: These are the current chain controls as of this writing.

    Interstate 80

    Chains are required from 2.1 miles east of Baxter in Placer County to the Nevada state line.

    Highway 50

    Chains are required from Twin Bridges to Meyers.

    Highway 20

    Chains are required from Washington Road to the I-80 junction in Nevada County.

    9:29 a.m.: Westbound Interstate 80 traffic in the Truckee area is again closed due to spinouts. There is no estimated time of reopening.

    9:19 a.m.: Road officials release westbound Interstate 80 traffic at Truckee after multiple spinouts were cleared.

    8:50 a.m.: Meteorologist Tamara Berg shares 24-hour rain totals as of 8:30 a.m. Monday.

    Northern California 24-hour rain totals as of 8:30 a.m. Monday on Feb. 16, 2026


    8:44 a.m.: Westbound Interstate 80 traffic at Truckee is being held due to multiple vehicle spinouts, Caltrans said.

    8:30 a.m.: These are the current chain controls as of this writing.

    Interstate 80

    Chains are required from 2.1 miles east of Baxter in Placer County to Truckee in Nevada County.

    Highway 50

    Chains are required from Twin Bridges to Meyers.

    8 a.m.: See storm coverage from the beginning of our 8 a.m. newscast.

    7:30 a.m.: Get a look at conditions in Soda Springs during a 7:30 a.m. live hit.

    7:25 a.m.: These are the current chain controls as of this writing.

    Interstate 80

    Chains are required from 2.1 miles east of Baxter in Placer County to Truckee in Nevada County.

    Highway 50

    Chains are required from Twin Bridges to Meyers.

    7:20 a.m.: According to an outage map, about 3,500 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers in Calaveras County are without power. The estimated time of restoration is 10 a.m. The cause of the outage has not been released.

    7 a.m.: See storm coverage from the beginning of our 7 a.m. newscast in the video player below.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • X Down For Thousands In U.S. And UK

    X, the former Twitter, has had a significant outage in the U.S. and UK. this morning.

    Thousands of users were unable to sign onto the Elon Musk site this morning as X wouldn’t load in both its app and website forms.

    According to the monitoring website Downdetector, reports of outages began to accrue at 8:14 a.m. ET today, with the number spiking considerably by 8:29 a.m. when 39.561 reports were filed with the site. The number dropped to 31,918 by 8:59 a.m. The figure at 9:09 a.m. was 28,673.

    About 53% of the user submissions indicated the problems were with the app, with 21% citing timeline issues and the remainder reporting website accessibility issues.

    Some media reports indicate that X outages have been reported in India as well.

    There’s been no official confirmation yet from X.

    Greg Evans

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  • Train derailment causes large PG&E power outage in Stockton

    A train derailment Monday morning led to an outage affecting as many as 17,000 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers in Stockton, authorities said.”At about 8 a.m. PST today, approximately three cars derailed in Union Pacific’s Stockton Rail Yard, knocking over a powerline, a statement from Union Pacific read. “No one was injured, and no hazardous material was involved. The utility company has been notified.”PG&E said 17,000 customers were initially without power. That number was down to 100 customers by 3:30 p.m. PG&E said it expected the majority of those customers to have their power restored by 5:30 p.m. There was a separate outage at or near the French Camp area affecting about 1,500 customers. The San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services said the three cars that derailed released soybean oil. KCRA 3’s Maricela De La Cruz was at the scene, where a power tower appeared to be folded over. She noted that the power lines came down across Clayton Avenue and across nearby train tracks. A PG&E spokesperson told De La Cruz that crews need to ground the wires before final repairs are made. It’s not clear how long the repairs will take. See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at kcra.com/upload.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    STOCKTON, Calif. —

    A train derailment Monday morning led to an outage affecting as many as 17,000 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers in Stockton, authorities said.

    “At about 8 a.m. PST today, approximately three cars derailed in Union Pacific’s Stockton Rail Yard, knocking over a powerline, a statement from Union Pacific read. “No one was injured, and no hazardous material was involved. The utility company has been notified.”

    PG&E said 17,000 customers were initially without power.

    That number was down to 100 customers by 3:30 p.m. PG&E said it expected the majority of those customers to have their power restored by 5:30 p.m.

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    There was a separate outage at or near the French Camp area affecting about 1,500 customers.

    The San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services said the three cars that derailed released soybean oil.

    KCRA 3’s Maricela De La Cruz was at the scene, where a power tower appeared to be folded over. She noted that the power lines came down across Clayton Avenue and across nearby train tracks.

    A PG&E spokesperson told De La Cruz that crews need to ground the wires before final repairs are made.

    It’s not clear how long the repairs will take.

    See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at kcra.com/upload.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • Verizon users report widespread outage for ‘wireless voice and data services’

    Verizon users report widespread outage for ‘wireless voice and data services’

    RECOMMENDED. ONCE MEN REACH BIDEN’S AGE. I THINK YOUR CELL PHONE BILL IS TOO HIGH. YOU ARE PROBABLY RIGHT. CONSUMER REPORTS SAYS YOU COULD SAVE HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS A YEAR WITHOUT SACRIFICING THE COVERAGE OR RELIABILITY YOU DEPEND ON. FOR YEARS, DAVID MORGAN STUCK WITH VERIZON, EVEN AS HIS MONTHLY BILL KEPT CLIMBING. LIKE MANY OF US, HE WAS PAYING MORE THAN HE WANTED FOR CELL PHONE SERVICE. I FELT STUCK, BUT AFTER 12 YEARS, ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH. DAVID SAID HE WAS THROUGH PAYING FOR EXTRAS HE DIDN’T NEED. I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHY I WAS PAYING SO MUCH. I COULDN’T GET CLARITY IN TERMS OF WHAT EXACTLY I WAS PAYING FOR. IT’S A COMMON ISSUE. THE BIG THREE WIRELESS NETWORKS VERIZON, AT&T AND T-MOBILE DOMINATE THE MARKET. BUT CONSUMER REPORTS SAYS THERE ARE OTHER CHEAPER OPTIONS, AND SWITCHING TO A SMALLER ONE LIKE DAVID DID CAN SAVE YOU SERIOUS MONEY. THESE SMALLER PROVIDERS, CALLED MVNOS, CAN CHARGE LESS FOR SERVICE SINCE THEY RENT SPACE ON THE SAME NETWORKS BUILT AND MAINTAINED BY THE BIG THREE U.S. MOBILE, CONSUMER, CELLULAR, AND TING. TOP RATINGS BEATING OUT THE BIG GUYS ON VALUE AND CUSTOMER SUPPORT TO FIND THE BEST DEAL FOR YOU. CHECK YOUR BILL OR YOUR PHONE SETTINGS TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH DATA YOU USE EACH MONTH. YOU MAY BE PAYING FOR MORE THAN YOU NEED. SMALLER COMPANIES TYPICALLY OFFER MORE OPTIONS, INCLUDING LOWER DATA PLANS, AND SOME EVEN LET YOU ADD ON DATA AS NEEDED. ALSO, PICK THE BEST PROVIDER FOR YOUR AREA. CHOOSE AN MVNO THAT USES THE SAME NETWORK. IF YOU GET GREAT SERVICE. NOW, PEOPLE OFTEN WORRY ABOUT SLOWDOWNS WITH A SMALLER CARRIER, BUT YOU PROBABLY WON’T NOTICE A DIFFERENCE. TO KEEP YOUR PHONE NUMBER, ACTIVATE YOUR NEW PLAN BEFORE CANCELING THE OLD ONE. MAKE SURE YOUR PHONE IS PAID OFF, UNLOCKED, AND COMPATIBLE WITH YOUR NEW PROVIDER. YOU’LL LIKELY NEED TO INSTALL A NEW SIM CARD OR ESIM. IT ONLY TAKES A FEW SIMPLE STEPS TO START SAVING, AND FOR DAVID, THE SWITCH LED TO EVEN BIGGER CHANGES. WHEN I MADE THE SWITCH FROM VERIZON TO TING, IT INSPIRED ME TO LOOK AT OTHER BILLS THAT I HAD, AND THAT INCLUDED MY INTERNET AND TV BILL AND THE SAVINGS. BY SWITCHING, KEEP ADDING UP. ALL RIGHT. THERE ARE A LOT OF OTHER KIND OF NO BRAINER COST SAVINGS OUT THERE, SO MAKE SURE YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE. THINGS LIKE ENROLLING IN PAPERLESS OR AUTOMATIC BILLING AND SIGNING UP FO

    Verizon users report widespread outage for ‘wireless voice and data services’

    Updated: 10:24 AM PST Jan 14, 2026

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Verizon users reported widespread outages on Wednesday afternoon.The telecommunications company acknowledged the outage on social media.”We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers. Our engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly,” the statement read. “We understand how important reliable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience.”According to Downdetector, at 12:42 p.m. ET, about 180,000 users reported experiencing issues with Verizon’s services.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

    Verizon users reported widespread outages on Wednesday afternoon.

    The telecommunications company acknowledged the outage on social media.

    “We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers. Our engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly,” the statement read. “We understand how important reliable connectivity is and apologize for the inconvenience.”

    According to Downdetector, at 12:42 p.m. ET, about 180,000 users reported experiencing issues with Verizon’s services.

    This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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  • Major Russian drone, missile attack on Ukraine kills at least 3 people, cuts power

    Russia fired more than 600 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas.The barrage struck homes and the power grid in 13 regions of Ukraine, causing widespread outages in bitter temperatures, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day after he described recent progress on finding a peace deal as “quite solid.”The bombardment demonstrated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention of pursuing the invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian and European officials have complained that Putin is not sincerely engaging with U.S.-led peace efforts.The attack “is an extremely clear signal of Russian priorities,” Zelenskyy said. “A strike before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, at home, in safety. A strike, in fact, in the midst of negotiations that are being conducted to end this war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.”For months, U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing for a peace agreement, but the negotiations have become entangled in the very different demands from Moscow and Kyiv.U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives. Trump was less effusive Monday, saying, “The talks are going along.”Initial reports from Ukrainian emergency services said the child died in Ukraine’s northwestern Zhytomyr region, while a drone killed a woman in the Kyiv region, and another civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to Zelenskyy.Russia launched 635 drones of various types and 38 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defenses stopped 587 drones and 34 missiles, it said.It was the ninth large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy system this year and left multiple regions in the west without power, while emergency power outages were in place across the country, acting Energy Minister Artem Nekraso said. Work to restore power would begin as soon as the security situation permitted, he said.Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said the attack targeted thermal power stations in what it said was the seventh major strike on the company’s facilities since October.DTEK’s thermal power plants have been hit more than 220 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Those attacks have killed four workers and wounded 59.Authorities in the western regions of Rivne, Ternopil and Lviv, as well as the northern Sumy region, reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages after the attack.In the southern Odesa region, Russia struck energy, port, transport, industrial and residential infrastructure, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.A merchant ship and over 120 homes were damaged, he said.

    KYIV, Ukraine —

    Russia fired more than 600 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas.

    The barrage struck homes and the power grid in 13 regions of Ukraine, causing widespread outages in bitter temperatures, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day after he described recent progress on finding a peace deal as “quite solid.”

    The bombardment demonstrated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention of pursuing the invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian and European officials have complained that Putin is not sincerely engaging with U.S.-led peace efforts.

    The attack “is an extremely clear signal of Russian priorities,” Zelenskyy said. “A strike before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, at home, in safety. A strike, in fact, in the midst of negotiations that are being conducted to end this war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.”

    For months, U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing for a peace agreement, but the negotiations have become entangled in the very different demands from Moscow and Kyiv.

    U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives. Trump was less effusive Monday, saying, “The talks are going along.”

    Initial reports from Ukrainian emergency services said the child died in Ukraine’s northwestern Zhytomyr region, while a drone killed a woman in the Kyiv region, and another civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to Zelenskyy.

    Russia launched 635 drones of various types and 38 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defenses stopped 587 drones and 34 missiles, it said.

    It was the ninth large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy system this year and left multiple regions in the west without power, while emergency power outages were in place across the country, acting Energy Minister Artem Nekraso said. Work to restore power would begin as soon as the security situation permitted, he said.

    Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said the attack targeted thermal power stations in what it said was the seventh major strike on the company’s facilities since October.

    DTEK’s thermal power plants have been hit more than 220 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Those attacks have killed four workers and wounded 59.

    Authorities in the western regions of Rivne, Ternopil and Lviv, as well as the northern Sumy region, reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages after the attack.

    In the southern Odesa region, Russia struck energy, port, transport, industrial and residential infrastructure, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.

    A merchant ship and over 120 homes were damaged, he said.

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  • Colorado power outages disrupt atomic clock in Boulder

    Power shut off across Colorado last week as hurricane-force winds swept across the state. In Boulder, one of those outages caused time to briefly stand still.

    The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Internet Time Service Facility in Boulder lost power Wednesday afternoon, disrupting the agency’s atomic clock, spokesperson Rebecca Jacobson said.

    The atomic clock, which uses cesium atoms to measure the exact length of a second, is used for GPS satellite networks, data centers, laboratories, aerospace, telecommunications, power generation and other systems that require ultra-precise timekeeping.

    “In short, the atomic ensemble time scale at our Boulder campus has failed due to a prolonged utility power outage,” NIST researcher Jeffrey Sherman wrote in an email announcing the outage to users. “One impact is that the Boulder Internet Time Services no longer have an accurate time reference.”

    When the outage started on Wednesday, some of NIST’s on-campus time distribution systems lapsed before the backup generator kicked in, causing a four-microsecond delay to the atomic clock, Jacobson said.

    At least one “crucial” generator at the facility failed after the outage, according to Sherman’s email.

    “For comparison, it takes about 350,000 microseconds to blink or 150,000 microseconds to snap your fingers,” Jacobson said.

    Lauren Penington

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  • Critical fire weather, strong winds may cause Colorado power outages

    Coloradans on the Front Range may lose power this week as strong winds and critical wildfire conditions hit the state, Xcel Energy warned customers on Monday.

    Strong winds will blow across Colorado starting Wednesday afternoon and may prompt a “targeted Public Safety Power Shutoff” to reduce wildfire risks, according to the Xcel alert.

    Fire danger will be elevated because of warm, dry weather over the last several weeks, including a recent 10-day stretch of near-record temperatures on the Front Range, the utility said.

    Denver weather: Near-record temperatures forecast for city

    Up to 40 mph wind gusts are forecast for the Denver area on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

    “Energy crews will restore power as quickly as safe conditions permit,” Xcel officials stated in a news release. “Xcel Energy’s top priority is protecting customers and communities.”

    During a public safety power shutoff, Xcel proactively cuts off power to areas with an elevated wildfire risk, according to the utility.

    “Proactively shutting off power is not a step we take lightly,” the company stated on its website. “We consider weather, wind speeds, relative humidity, fuel moisture and temperature as well as critical customers and infrastructure before deciding to implement a PSPS.”

    Power restoration will begin after the high winds and fire danger subside, according to the website.

    The timeline for restoration can range from several hours to several days, depending on the area, utility officials said. Crews need to patrol the entire line to ensure it’s safe before it can be re-energized.

    Even if Xcel does not proactively shut off power, the utility still expects to implement what it calls “enhanced powerline safety settings” on Wednesday.

    Lauren Penington

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  • Amazon Web Services down: Full list of sites impacted

    There was a sharp spike in users of Amazon Web Services (AWS) reporting issues early on Monday morning, according to Downdetector, leading to outages across the many websites, apps, and platforms that use AWS.

    According to the website that monitors service provision failures, just before 3 am Eastern Time (ET) on Monday, users reporting issues with AWS suddenly began to increase – with 476 reports at 2.54 am ET. By 3.39 am ET there were 13,044 reports of issues with Amazon’s web services.

    A map produced by the service showed there has been a high concentration of reports in New York City, St Louis (MO), Boston (MA), Los Angeles (CA), Seattle (WA), Dallas (TX), Atlanta (GA), Chicago (IL), and Detroit (MI).

    According to Downdetector, issues have been reported across a wide range of sites, although it’s not clear if they are connected to the AWS outage or a different issue. Problems have been reported on:

    • Instructure
    • Crunchyroll
    • Roblox
    • Whatnot
    • Venmo
    • Amazon Alexa
    • Amazon
    • Coinbase
    • Snapchat
    • Canva
    • Duolingo
    • Goodreads
    • Ring
    • The New York Times
    • Life360
    • Fortnite
    • Apple TV
    • Verizon
    • Robinhood
    • Chime
    • Perplexity AI
    • McDonald’s App
    • CollegeBoard
    • Wordle
    • PUBG Battlegrounds

    Users have also taken to social media to report the issues, with some asking why “everything was down,” and others saying services weren’t connecting despite having working Wi-Fi connection.

    This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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  • Verizon outage map shows where service is down across US

    Verizon mobile and internet customers across the United States have reported losing coverage in the early hours of Thursday morning.

    According to Downdetector, a website that monitors service provision failures, the outage has been widespread, hitting users in cities including New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Chicago, Seattle, Phoenix and Atlanta.

    Data published by Downdetector showed the number of people reporting outages exploded at around midnight ET, hitting a peak of 1,244 reports at 0.56 a.m. ET.

    Downdetector reported that 50 percent of problems reported by Verizon users involved cell phones, while 32 percent were about 5G home internet.

    This is a developing story. More to follow.

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  • CrowdStrike says widespread disruptions were not the result of security incident or cyberattack

    CrowdStrike says widespread disruptions were not the result of security incident or cyberattack

    A global technology outage grounded flights, knocked banks offline and media outlets off air on Friday in a massive disruption that affected companies and services around the world and highlighted dependence on software from a handful of providers.

    Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said that the issue believed to be behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack.

    The issue affected Microsoft 365 apps and services, and escalating disruptions continued hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing it.

    The website DownDectector, which tracks user-reported internet outages, recorded growing outages in services at Visa, ADT security and Amazon, and airlines including American Airlines and Delta.

    News outlets in Australia reported that airlines, telecommunications providers and banks, and media broadcasters were disrupted as they lost access to computer systems. Airlines in the U.K., Europe and India reported problems and some New Zealand banks said they were offline.

    Microsoft 365 posted on X that the company was “working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion” and that they were “observing a positive trend in service availability.”

    The company did not respond to a request for comment. It did not explain the cause of the outage further.

    CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz posted on social media platform X that the company “is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.”

    He said: “This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”

    New Zealand’s acting prime minister, David Seymour, said on X that officials in the country were “moving at pace to understand the potential impacts” of the global problem.

    “I have not currently received any reporting to indicate these issues are related to malicious cyber security activity,” Seymour wrote. The issue was causing “inconvenience” for the public and businesses, he added.

    Israel’s Cyber Directorate that it was among the places affected by the global outages, attributing them to a problem with Crowdstrike. The outage also hit the country’s post offices and hospitals, according to the ministries of communication and health.

    Meanwhile, major disruptions reported by airlines and airports grew.

    In the U.S., the FAA said the airlines United, American, Delta and Allegiant had all been grounded. Travelers at Los Angeles International Airport slept on a jetway floor, using backpacks and other luggage for pillows, due to a delayed United flight to Dulles International Airport early on Friday.

    Airlines, railways and television stations in the United Kingdom were being disrupted by the computer issues. The budget airline Ryanair, train operators TransPennine Express and Govia Thameslink Railway, as well as broadcaster Sky News are among those affected.

    “We’re currently experiencing disruption across the network due to a global third party IT outage which is out of our control,” Ryanair said. “We advise all passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their scheduled departure time.”

    Edinburgh Airport said the system outage meant waiting times were longer than usual. London’s Stansted Airport said some airline check-in services were being completed manually, but flights were still operating.

    Widespread problems were reported at Australian airports, where lines grew and some passengers were stranded as online check-in services and self-service booths were disabled. Passengers in Melbourne queued for more than an hour to check in, although flights were still operating.

    Airline operations in India were disrupted, affecting thousands.

    The privately-owned IndiGo airlines told the passengers on X that the Microsoft outage on Friday impacted airline operations in India, inconveniencing thousands of passengers.

    Several airlines made statements on X saying that they were following manual check-in and boarding processes and warned of delays due to technical problems.

    Hong Kong’s Airport Authority said in a statement that the outage was affecting some airlines at the city’s airport and they had switched to manual check-in.

    Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport said on its website that the outage was having a “major impact on flights” to and from the busy European hub. The outage came on one of the busiest days of the year for the airport, at the start of many people’s summer vacations.

    In Germany, Berlin Airport said Friday morning that “due to a technical fault, there will be delays in check-in.” It said that flights were suspended until 10 a.m. (0800GMT), without giving details, German news agency dpa reported.

    Zurich Airport, the busiest in Switzerland, suspended landings on Friday morning but said flights headed there that were already in the air were still allowed to land. It said that several airlines, handling agents and other companies at the airport were affected, and that check-in had to be done manually in some cases, but that the airport’s own systems were running.

    At Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport, some US-bound flights had posted delays, while others were unaffected.

    Australia appeared to be severely affected by the issue. Outages reported on the site DownDetector included the banks NAB, Commonwealth and Bendigo, and the airlines Virgin Australia and Qantas, as well as internet and phone providers such as Telstra.

    Hospitals in Britain and Germany also reported problems.

    Several practices within the National Health Service in England reported that the outage had hit their clinical computer system that contains medical records and is used for scheduling.

    “We have no access to patient clinical records so are unable to book appointments or provide information,” Church Lane Surgery in Brighouse in Northern England said on the social media platform X. “This is a national problem and is being worked on as a high priority.”

    The NHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    In northern Germany, the Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital, which has branches in Kiel and Luebeck, said it had canceled all elective surgery scheduled for Friday, but patient and emergency care were unaffected.

    News outlets in Australia – including the ABC and Sky News – were unable to broadcast on their TV and radio channels, and reported sudden shutdowns of Windows-based computers. Some news anchors broadcast live online from dark offices, in front of computers showing “blue screens of death.”

    In South Africa, at least one major bank said it was experiencing “nationwide service disruptions” as customers reported they were unable to make payments using their bank cards at grocery stores and gas stations.

    The New Zealand banks ASB and Kiwibank said their services were down.

    An X user posted a screenshot of an alert from the company Crowdstrike that said the company was aware of “reports of crashes on Windows hosts” related to its Falcon Sensor platform. The alert was posted on a password-protected Crowdstrike site and could not be verified. Crowdstrike did not respond to a request for comment.

    Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

    AP

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  • AT&T resolves outage that left some customers without service across the US

    AT&T resolves outage that left some customers without service across the US

    TO EXPLAIN TED JESSICA A LOT OF AT&T CUSTOMERS HERE IN BOSTON AND AROUND THE COUNTRY WOKE UP WITH SOMETHING ON THEIR PHONE THEY MAY HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE. LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK. YOU MAY HAVE WOKEN UP WITH YOUR S.O.S. MODE ON YOUR PHONE, WHICH IS SIMPLY A WAY FOR YOUR CELL PHONE TELLING YOU YOU DON’T HAVE CELL CONNECTION, MEANING YOU’RE ONLY ABLE TO CALL OR TEXT EMERGENCY SERVICES THROUGH THE CELLULAR NETWORK. NOW, A LOT OF PEOPLE USE AT&T AS THEIR CELL NETWORK AND DIALED 911 TO SEE IF THEY COULD CONNECT TO FIRST RESPONDERS AND MATT STATE POLICE GOT FLOODED WITH CALLS SO MUCH SO THEY HAD TO PUT OUT ON TWITTER SAYING, IF YOU NEED TO CALL 911 AND CANNOT DO SO, USE A LANDLINE IF POSSIBLE UNTIL THE SITUATION IS RESOLVED. NOW NEWTON POLICE DISPATCH ALSO TOOK CALLS WHEN AT&T SERVICE WENT DOWN. WE’RE ASKING THAT PEOPLE NOT CALL 911 JUST TO TEST THEIR SERVICE. IF YOUR PHONE SERVICE IS UP AND WORKING, YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE ANY ISSUES CALLING IN TO 911. NOW

    AT&T resolves outage that left some customers without service across the US


    Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN

    AT&T says it has resolved an outage that left some customers in the dark on Tuesday.Video above: AT&T restores cellular service after widespread outage in FebruaryEarlier, the company said a problem prevented many AT&T customers from completing calls between carriers.“The interoperability issue between carriers has been resolved,” an AT&T spokesperson said. “We collaborated with the other carrier to find a solution and appreciate our customers patience during this period.”In a previous statement sent to CNN, the company said a problem prevented many AT&T customers from completing calls between carriers. That also means customers from a rival service could not place calls to an AT&T customer.Although AT&T did not share the number of impacted customers, website Down Detector shows a spike in reports of issues using the service starting around 1 p.m. ET. Those numbers climbed in the hours that followed. By 6 p.m. ET, however, the number of reported incidents started to decline, according to Down Detector.The site listed New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis as among the cities with the most reports of issues.Because of the interoperability problem, thousands of Verizon customers also reported a service outage on Down Detector Tuesday.AT&T told CNN that 911 calls went through, despite a few locations, including Camden County, Georgia, and Scranton, Pennsylvania, issuing alerts on social media that the outage was disrupting calls to 911. AT&T told CNN the alerts were received accidentally after a template for such a notification was triggered and sent. AT&T said it is investigating why that happened.The outage comes less than four months after a massive disruption that knocked out service for AT&T’s network for nearly 12 hours. In February, tens of thousands of AT&T customers in America were unable to make phone calls, send texts, reach emergency services or access the internet because of an AT&T network outage.In March, the telecommunications company said it had been hacked in a separate incident, and the stolen data contained information such as account holders’ Social Security numbers.

    AT&T says it has resolved an outage that left some customers in the dark on Tuesday.

    Video above: AT&T restores cellular service after widespread outage in February

    Earlier, the company said a problem prevented many AT&T customers from completing calls between carriers.

    “The interoperability issue between carriers has been resolved,” an AT&T spokesperson said. “We collaborated with the other carrier to find a solution and appreciate our customers patience during this period.”

    In a previous statement sent to CNN, the company said a problem prevented many AT&T customers from completing calls between carriers. That also means customers from a rival service could not place calls to an AT&T customer.

    Although AT&T did not share the number of impacted customers, website Down Detector shows a spike in reports of issues using the service starting around 1 p.m. ET. Those numbers climbed in the hours that followed. By 6 p.m. ET, however, the number of reported incidents started to decline, according to Down Detector.

    The site listed New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis as among the cities with the most reports of issues.

    Because of the interoperability problem, thousands of Verizon customers also reported a service outage on Down Detector Tuesday.

    AT&T told CNN that 911 calls went through, despite a few locations, including Camden County, Georgia, and Scranton, Pennsylvania, issuing alerts on social media that the outage was disrupting calls to 911. AT&T told CNN the alerts were received accidentally after a template for such a notification was triggered and sent. AT&T said it is investigating why that happened.

    The outage comes less than four months after a massive disruption that knocked out service for AT&T’s network for nearly 12 hours. In February, tens of thousands of AT&T customers in America were unable to make phone calls, send texts, reach emergency services or access the internet because of an AT&T network outage.

    In March, the telecommunications company said it had been hacked in a separate incident, and the stolen data contained information such as account holders’ Social Security numbers.

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  • AT&T Users Report Major Problems Making Calls in U.S.

    AT&T Users Report Major Problems Making Calls in U.S.

    Photo: Pau Barrena / AFP (Getty Images)

    Update, 7:50 p.m. ET: AT&T says the issue has now been fixed, telling Gizmodo over email, “We collaborated with the other carrier to find a solution and appreciate our customers patience during this period.” The original article remains below.

    Google’s Antitrust Case Is the Best Thing That Ever Happened to AI

    AT&T customers across the U.S. are reporting major network issues on Tuesday that’s stopping them from making calls to people with other network carriers. DownDetector appears to show reports from customers at T-Mobile and Verizon as well, though both carriers tell Gizmodo they’re not experiencing outages and those reports are from people simply trying to reach AT&T users.

    “There is a nationwide issue that is affecting the ability of customers to complete calls between carriers,” an AT&T spokesperson told Gizmodo. “The carriers are working as quickly as possible to diagnose and resolve the issue.”

    The company told ABC News that calls to 911 are not impacted and should be working normally.

    AT&T suffered a widespread outage across the country back in February that hampered not only voice calls but any connectivity on the network nationwide. Initial suspicions online saw users speculate it may have been the result of a cyberattack, a rumor that AT&T denied.

    AT&T eventually apologized for the outage and offered customers a $5 credit. Some customers complained, but AT&T defended the rebate by saying it was roughly the “average cost of a full day of service.”

    Other tech companies have experienced major outages recently, with ChatGPT down for thousands of users Tuesday morning. The first ChatGPT outage appears to have started around 3:00 a.m. ET and a second outage hitting around 10:30 am ET. Things appear to be back up and normal with the AI chatbot service as of Tuesday evening.

    Hundreds of thousands of Facebook and Instagram users experienced a serious outage earlier this year and LinkedIn saw the same thing back in March. It seems a number of companies are just struggling to keep their sites up for a host of different reasons.

    Matt Novak

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  • NC city apologizes after most homes and businesses lost power Saturday. Cause unknown.

    NC city apologizes after most homes and businesses lost power Saturday. Cause unknown.

    The city of Greenville’s public utility apologized for a widespread outage on Saturday, March 23, 2024, whose cause remained a mystery hours after power was restored.

    The city of Greenville’s public utility apologized for a widespread outage on Saturday, March 23, 2024, whose cause remained a mystery hours after power was restored.

    GREENVILLE UTILITIES

    The city of Greenville’s public utility apologized Saturday for a widespread outage whose cause remained a mystery hours after power was restored.

    Most homes and businesses in the city, which has a population of about 90,800, lost electricity Saturday morning, police said in a series of alerts Saturday morning on X, formerly known as Twitter.

    Power was restored within about two hours, police said.

    Lights out, police direct traffic

    Greenville is roughly about 85 miles southeast of Raleigh and home to East Carolina University, a 1,600 acre public institution.

    Police first reported the outage at 10 a.m.

    “Major power outage in the N.C. 33/264 corridor of the city,” police initially said on X.

    “Officers are being directed to numerous intersections to direct traffic,” the alert by police continued. “A reminder, all unattended intersections without power should be treated as a four-way stop.”

    Eight minutes later, police said the outage extended beyond the N.C. 33/264 corridor.

    “Much of city impacted,” police posted on X at 10:08 a.m. “Please continue to treat all intersections as a four way stop.”

    At 11:15 a.m., police said utility crews estimated restoration could take 30 minutes to several hours. “Already restored in some areas,” police said on X.

    An hour later, Greenville Utilities said all residential customers had power back.

    No update on cause

    “Crews are now focused on industrial customers,” the utility posted on X.

    At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, crews continued to investigate the cause, the utility posted on X. “And we have no update on the cause at this time,” the utility posted. “We apologize for any inconvenience our customers may have experienced due to this outage.”

    168,000 customer connections

    Greenville Utilities is owned by the residents of the city but operates under a separate charter issued by the North Carolina General Assembly, according to the Greenville Utilities Commission website.

    The utility provides electricity, water, sewer and natural gas to the city and 75% of Pitt County, with a combined total of nearly 168,000 customer connections.

    The utility did not say how many homes and businesses lost power and did not immediately return a message on Saturday from The Charlotte Observer.

    This story was originally published March 23, 2024, 6:16 PM.

    Related stories from Charlotte Observer

    Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news.
    Support my work with a digital subscription

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  • Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles services impacted by nationwide outage

    Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles services impacted by nationwide outage

    A nationwide outage is interfering with Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles services today, including most driver’s license and online services.

    The outage stems from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, the agency announced in a news release Thursday morning.

    Services that are still up and running include driver’s license knowledge tests, endorsement tests, commercial driver’s license instruction permit tests, scheduling hearings and requesting motor vehicle records.

    Katie Langford

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  • AT&T to reimburse customers after massive network outage

    AT&T to reimburse customers after massive network outage

    AT&T is reimbursing customers for the nearly 12-hour network outage on Thursday, the company announced in a news release.The mobile network will issue a $5 credit to “potentially impacted” AT&T Wireless customers, which it says is the “average cost of a full day of service.””We recognize the frustration this outage has caused and know we let many of our customers down,” the company said late Saturday. “We understand this may have impacted their ability to connect with family, friends, and others. Small business owners may have been impacted, potentially disrupting an essential way they connect with customers.”The credit will not apply to customers under AT&T’s Business or Prepaid plans or those who have Cricket Wireless accounts. AT&T acquired Cricket in 2014 for about $1.2 billion.The network outage, which was first reported on Thursday at 3:30 a.m. ET, prevented tens of thousands of subscribers across the United States from fully accessing calls, texts, internet and emergency services. AT&T had encountered sporadic service interruptions in the days leading up to the outage, including a temporary 911 outage in some parts of the southeast.While regional disruptions to wireless service happen occasionally, prolonged nationwide outages are rare. The Federal Communications Commission confirmed Thursday it was investigating the incident.The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also told CNN on Thursday it was “working closely with AT&T to understand the cause of the outage and its impacts, and stand ready to offer any assistance needed.”Several hours after service was restored, AT&T released an update stating the outage seemed to be the result of an internal issue, not a cybersecurity threat.”Based on our initial review, we believe that today’s outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network,” the company said.On Saturday, AT&T reiterated it was taking steps “to prevent this from happening again in the future,” but did not elaborate.

    CNN —

    AT&T is reimbursing customers for the nearly 12-hour network outage on Thursday, the company announced in a news release.

    The mobile network will issue a $5 credit to “potentially impacted” AT&T Wireless customers, which it says is the “average cost of a full day of service.”

    “We recognize the frustration this outage has caused and know we let many of our customers down,” the company said late Saturday. “We understand this may have impacted their ability to connect with family, friends, and others. Small business owners may have been impacted, potentially disrupting an essential way they connect with customers.”

    The credit will not apply to customers under AT&T’s Business or Prepaid plans or those who have Cricket Wireless accounts. AT&T acquired Cricket in 2014 for about $1.2 billion.

    The network outage, which was first reported on Thursday at 3:30 a.m. ET, prevented tens of thousands of subscribers across the United States from fully accessing calls, texts, internet and emergency services. AT&T had encountered sporadic service interruptions in the days leading up to the outage, including a temporary 911 outage in some parts of the southeast.

    While regional disruptions to wireless service happen occasionally, prolonged nationwide outages are rare. The Federal Communications Commission confirmed Thursday it was investigating the incident.

    The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also told CNN on Thursday it was “working closely with AT&T to understand the cause of the outage and its impacts, and stand ready to offer any assistance needed.”

    Several hours after service was restored, AT&T released an update stating the outage seemed to be the result of an internal issue, not a cybersecurity threat.

    “Based on our initial review, we believe that today’s outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network,” the company said.

    On Saturday, AT&T reiterated it was taking steps “to prevent this from happening again in the future,” but did not elaborate.

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  • ‘I couldn’t work the whole day’: AT&T outage frustrates customers on the go

    ‘I couldn’t work the whole day’: AT&T outage frustrates customers on the go

    Uber driver Damián Reyes was on his second ride of the day in the early hours of Thursday morning when he noticed something strange happening to his AT&T phone.First, his streaming music stopped playing. He restarted his phone, but his ride-sharing app went “completely blank,” he told CNN – all while he had a passenger in the backseat.”I couldn’t work the whole day basically,” he said. “I thought it would probably come back on soon, and I’m just waiting and waiting and waiting.”Left unable to pick up passengers, Reyes, who drives for Uber as his full-time job in Jacksonville, Florida, was one of millions of AT&T customers who struggled with a prolonged, nationwide outage on Thursday. He was left frustrated with the lack of communication by AT&T throughout the outage.The company didn’t publicly acknowledge the outage until it first posted on its site about the outage at 11:15 a.m. ET. Reports on outage tracking service Downdetector showed the network initially went down more than seven hours earlier: Reyes said he experienced the outage starting at 3:50 a.m. ET. AT&T posted just once on X about the outage, pointing customers seeking more information to a faulty link.In a statement to CNN, AT&T said: “We apologize for what has been a very frustrating day for many of our customers.” It said the outage was caused by a software update that went wrong.Mobile networks like AT&T’s have become lifelines for billions of people around the world. They enabled gig worker jobs like Reyes’ and they allow people to access emergency services like 911 on the go. And they have connected the world to friends, family and colleagues no matter where they are.For many AT&T customers, the network outage was far more than an inconvenience. And AT&T’s communication about its disruption, which stretched into the late afternoon, was insufficient, Reyes said.”They could have at least sent a message. I went to AT&T’s Twitter and there was nothing,” he said. “Their phone line? They never answered the phone for me. I don’t know what was going on with them. I got no answer on the app, either.”Reyes isn’t the only customer who felt let down by AT&T; angry customers flooded AT&T’s social media, blasting the company’s apparent lack of transparency.”A simple banner on top of att.com that says ‘everything is broken, were working on it’ would save epic amounts of everyone’s time,” said one user on Reddit. Late Thursday, hours after service was restored, AT&T provided some clarity about the outage, writing that an “initial review” found that it was likely caused by an internal error.The company pointed to its use of customer care lines, social media handles, website and mobile app as places where updates were provided, given the fact that impacted customers were unable to receive text messages.’Not acceptable’Nationwide outages are exceedingly rare. But some consumer advocates say the company’s communication through the predicament could have been better.Mojtaba Vaezi, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Villanova University and director of the school’s Wireless Networking Laboratory, said the outage was “not acceptable,” especially as AT&T advertises its 5G network’s reliability.John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications, and fraud at the National Consumers League, said that AT&T was in a tricky spot regarding communication since many customers couldn’t access updates through their phones. But the company could have taken steps to communicate using alternate methods, such as Wi-Fi calling, he said.Breyault said the company could have been posting updates on when they expected the outage to be resolved or different ways customers could access 911, which many news outlets were posting.AT&T did not provide public guidance on setting up alternate services such as Wi-Fi calling or the impact on emergency services.911Several local governments reported AT&T’s outage was disrupting emergency services. San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management said in a statement on X Thursday morning that its 911 center remained operational, but many AT&T customers were unable to reach the emergency line because of the outage. It suggested people call from a landline or find someone with a rival’s service to dial 911.At least one police department reported that its 911 line was briefly flooded with people dialing to see if their calls would go through from their cell phones.An AT&T spokesman said the company’s FirstNet network remained operational despite the outage. FirstNet provides coverage for first responders, including police and fire departments, and is advertised as a more robust network than the AT&T commercial network. It uses a mix of its own infrastructure plus AT&T’s broader network.What’s nextIt’s unclear what the ultimate fallout will be for AT&T. U.S. authorities are investigating the cause, and it may be subject to fines and additional regulatory scrutiny.AT&T’s financial impact may go beyond fines: For frustrated customers like Reyes, some may ultimately choose switch to a different carrier.”Maybe if they would have handled it differently, I probably would have stayed with them,” he added. “But I’m going to go to T-Mobile.”CNN’s Catherine Thorbecke and Clare Duffy contributed to this report.

    Uber driver Damián Reyes was on his second ride of the day in the early hours of Thursday morning when he noticed something strange happening to his AT&T phone.

    First, his streaming music stopped playing. He restarted his phone, but his ride-sharing app went “completely blank,” he told CNN – all while he had a passenger in the backseat.

    “I couldn’t work the whole day basically,” he said. “I thought it would probably come back on soon, and I’m just waiting and waiting and waiting.”

    Left unable to pick up passengers, Reyes, who drives for Uber as his full-time job in Jacksonville, Florida, was one of millions of AT&T customers who struggled with a prolonged, nationwide outage on Thursday. He was left frustrated with the lack of communication by AT&T throughout the outage.

    The company didn’t publicly acknowledge the outage until it first posted on its site about the outage at 11:15 a.m. ET. Reports on outage tracking service Downdetector showed the network initially went down more than seven hours earlier: Reyes said he experienced the outage starting at 3:50 a.m. ET. AT&T posted just once on X about the outage, pointing customers seeking more information to a faulty link.

    In a statement to CNN, AT&T said: “We apologize for what has been a very frustrating day for many of our customers.” It said the outage was caused by a software update that went wrong.

    Mobile networks like AT&T’s have become lifelines for billions of people around the world. They enabled gig worker jobs like Reyes’ and they allow people to access emergency services like 911 on the go. And they have connected the world to friends, family and colleagues no matter where they are.

    For many AT&T customers, the network outage was far more than an inconvenience. And AT&T’s communication about its disruption, which stretched into the late afternoon, was insufficient, Reyes said.

    “They could have at least sent a message. I went to AT&T’s Twitter and there was nothing,” he said. “Their phone line? They never answered the phone for me. I don’t know what was going on with them. I got no answer on the app, either.”

    Reyes isn’t the only customer who felt let down by AT&T; angry customers flooded AT&T’s social media, blasting the company’s apparent lack of transparency.

    “A simple banner on top of att.com that says ‘everything is broken, were working on it’ would save epic amounts of everyone’s time,” said one user on Reddit.

    Late Thursday, hours after service was restored, AT&T provided some clarity about the outage, writing that an “initial review” found that it was likely caused by an internal error.

    The company pointed to its use of customer care lines, social media handles, website and mobile app as places where updates were provided, given the fact that impacted customers were unable to receive text messages.

    ‘Not acceptable’

    Nationwide outages are exceedingly rare. But some consumer advocates say the company’s communication through the predicament could have been better.

    Mojtaba Vaezi, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Villanova University and director of the school’s Wireless Networking Laboratory, said the outage was “not acceptable,” especially as AT&T advertises its 5G network’s reliability.

    John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications, and fraud at the National Consumers League, said that AT&T was in a tricky spot regarding communication since many customers couldn’t access updates through their phones. But the company could have taken steps to communicate using alternate methods, such as Wi-Fi calling, he said.

    Breyault said the company could have been posting updates on when they expected the outage to be resolved or different ways customers could access 911, which many news outlets were posting.

    AT&T did not provide public guidance on setting up alternate services such as Wi-Fi calling or the impact on emergency services.

    911

    Several local governments reported AT&T’s outage was disrupting emergency services. San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management said in a statement on X Thursday morning that its 911 center remained operational, but many AT&T customers were unable to reach the emergency line because of the outage. It suggested people call from a landline or find someone with a rival’s service to dial 911.

    At least one police department reported that its 911 line was briefly flooded with people dialing to see if their calls would go through from their cell phones.

    An AT&T spokesman said the company’s FirstNet network remained operational despite the outage. FirstNet provides coverage for first responders, including police and fire departments, and is advertised as a more robust network than the AT&T commercial network. It uses a mix of its own infrastructure plus AT&T’s broader network.

    What’s next

    It’s unclear what the ultimate fallout will be for AT&T. U.S. authorities are investigating the cause, and it may be subject to fines and additional regulatory scrutiny.

    AT&T’s financial impact may go beyond fines: For frustrated customers like Reyes, some may ultimately choose switch to a different carrier.

    “Maybe if they would have handled it differently, I probably would have stayed with them,” he added. “But I’m going to go to T-Mobile.”

    CNN’s Catherine Thorbecke and Clare Duffy contributed to this report.

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  • How nationwide AT&T outage is impacting services in New York City

    How nationwide AT&T outage is impacting services in New York City

    NEW YORK (WABC) — Widespread AT&T outages have been impacting customers nationwide, but the NYPD said that 911 is operating normally and was not affected by the major outage early Thursday morning.

    But just like everyone else, police department phones on AT&T service were disrupted.

    Between 5:15 a.m. and 6:15 a.m., the department’s AT&T phones were not able to make calls or utilize email. The phones operated when connected to Wi-Fi.

    Suffolk County put out a preemptive post on the cellphone outage, telling residents to text 911 if there is a problem. But there were no 911 problems reported in Suffolk County either.

    The city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications cyber command is monitoring the AT&T situation and say that as of now, city services are continuing.

    AT&T runs the FirstNet network that remained up the entire time. FirstNet provides coverage for first responders and is advertised as a more robust network than the AT&T commercial network.

    It uses a mix of its own infrastructure plus AT&T’s broader network. Its customers include police and fire departments, as well as first responders during natural disasters.

    “I spoke to the NYPD, NYPD says they are getting their calls into 911, including from AT&T customers. That’s what they know about, what’s working,” Intelligence Analyst John Miller explained. “There is no way to gauge who is not getting through. They also say their systems, their phones are working.”

    Miller explained that AT&T is interesting among the characters because it runs FirstNet.

    “So even in a crisis, even when things aren’t supposed to have priority. So first responders and emergency services can communicate in a crisis,” Miller said. “According to NYPD at least, that’s working. I spoke to an FBI, their cyber people are monitoring this, but they don’t know that there is anything nefarious going on. It’s just something they would monitor.”

    Additionally, both Verizon and T-Mobile say they are completely unaffected. The DownDetector website did report outages for both services, but neither had them. instead, their customers were likely reporting problems reaching AT&T customers

    “We did not experience an outage,” T-Mobile said in a statement. “Our network is operating normally.”

    “Verizon’s network is operating normally,” Verizon also said. “Some customers experienced issues this morning when calling or texting with customers served by another carrier. We are continuing to monitor the situation.”

    Verizon believes the nationwide outage involving AT&T customers “is close to being resolved,” according to a Verizon spokesman.

    RELATED | AT&T customers report massive outage, disrupting phone service across America

    T-Mobile and Verizon said their networks were unaffected by AT&T’s service outage and customers reporting outages may have been unable to reach customers who use AT&T.

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  • AT&T Suffers Major Outage Affecting Millions of Customers and Cities Across the U.S.

    AT&T Suffers Major Outage Affecting Millions of Customers and Cities Across the U.S.

    In the wee hours of Thursday, AT&T, one of the nation’s major cellular providers, had a massive outage that, as of 10 a.m., continues unabated. According to reports, the outage, which the telecom giant has yet to explain, is impacting cities across the country and 911 service for as many as 74,000 customers. Wi-fi calling continues to work for those without cell service.

    Although the reason for the outage has not been revealed, it appears to be related to how calls are passed between networks — AT&T to Verizon, for example. And while the outage has not directly impacted those on other cellular services, those who are affected on AT&T cannot make or receive calls from any providers complicating communications across the entire network of phones nationwide. In some cases, if a Verizon or T-Mobile customer is connected to an AT&T network, it could cause problems for those users as well.

    AT&T has said that its first responder network remains operational, but that doesn’t necessarily mean people calling 911 can get through if their personal cell service has been affected. Additionally, some cities have been impacted by people calling 911 just to test their service, flooding those services with calls and blocking others with actual emergencies from getting through.

    Houston, along with Dallas and San Antonio, are the cities in Texas that appear to be most affected by the outage. Other cities including Atlanta, New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Chicago are also having issues.

    Jeff Balke

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  • AT&T says to use Wi-Fi calling as cell outage persists. How can you do that?

    AT&T says to use Wi-Fi calling as cell outage persists. How can you do that?

    File photo of the AT&T logo. The network is experiencing wireless service interruptions Thursday, Feb. 22, and encourages Wi-Fi calling.

    File photo of the AT&T logo. The network is experiencing wireless service interruptions Thursday, Feb. 22, and encourages Wi-Fi calling.


    Mark Lennihan

    AP

    A cellular outage has impacted mobile phone customers nationally, leaving many users without the ability to place calls.

    The outage, which began in the early morning hours of Thursday, Feb. 22, is affecting customers of AT&T, Verizon and many other cell service providers, according to DownDetector.com.

    There are believed to be tens of thousands of outages, The Associated Press reported.

    AT&T says there is a quick fix to placing calls by enabling Wi-Fi calling on your phone.

    So how do you do that?

    iPhone users

    By using Wi-Fi calling, mobile phone users will be able to “make or receive a phone call if you have a Wi-Fi connection in an area with little or no cellular coverage,” Apple says.

    To turn on the option, Apple says to go to “Settings” on your phone. Then, tap the “Phone” and then “Wi-Fi Calling.”

    “If Wi-Fi calling is available, you’ll see ‘Wi-Fi’ in the status bar while viewing control center,” according to Apple. “Then your calls will use Wi-Fi Calling.”

    Android users

    The same setting can be applied for Android devices, according to Google.

    To enable this option on Android phones, open the Phone app, tap “More,” then go to “Settings.” Then, Google says to tap “Calls” and then tap “Wi-Fi calling.”

    Not all phone carriers support Wi-Fi calling, according to Google.

    “Once you’ve set up Wi-Fi calling, you can make a call over Wi-Fi just like any other call,” Google said. “When you’re connected to the internet, you’ll see ‘Internet Call’ or ‘Wi-Fi calling’ on the notification screen.”

    Mike Stunson covers real-time news for McClatchy. He is a 2011 Western Kentucky University graduate who has previously worked at the Paducah Sun and Madisonville Messenger as a sports reporter and the Lexington Herald-Leader as a breaking news reporter.
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    Mike Stunson

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