Emergency services, 911 calls impacted
A water line break caused widespread phone outages in Iowa, impacting area hospitals and emergency services on Thursday.A spokesperson for the city of Des Moines confirmed to KCCI that a water line break at the Lumen Technologies, a key telecommunications company, building located in the 600 block of 9th Street in downtown Des Moines, is the cause.Water leaked through parts of the building, causing the outage in part because workers needed to power down equipment, according to the Iowa Communications Network, a fiber optic network that serves government and public safety agencies. Some internet providers in the affected areas — CenturyLink and Quantum Fiber — are part of Lumen.A spokesperson for Lumen confirmed an outage impacted landline 911 calls along with phone and internet service for some customers in central and eastern Iowa but did not provide details on the number of people impacted, or a timeline for fixing the issue. A statement from Lumen said, “Restoring impacted services is our top priority.”Shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday, a Lumen spokesperson said the “vast majority” of broadband services impacted by the outage have been restored. Work on restoring landline 911 and phone services continues.According to Des Moines police, administrative phone lines were not functioning properly Thursday morning.Des Moines police cited “a significant malfunction at the service provider” for the outage.MercyOne facilities across the state also reported problems, saying inbound calls were not going through and received a busy signal. The Iowa Clinic and UnityPoint also reported problems with inbound calls.The Polk County Emergency Management Agency said the ability to reach 911 by landline phones was impacted. Polk County EMA recommends dialing 911 using a mobile phone if you have an emergency during the outage.Texting 911 is also available throughout Iowa.Automated alarm systems may also be unable to complete calls according to Polk County EMA, so you are asked to dial 911 from a mobile phone to report the alarm.Elsewhere in the metro, the city of Johnston also reported similar issues. The city reported problems affecting city hall, public works, parks, Johnston Public Library, and the public safety building.Warren County, Boone County and the city of Waukee were among several other communities in central Iowa to report problems with phone lines.The water line break, and subsequent telecommunications outages, started a dramatic chain of events on Thursday, shutting down landlines throughout the state and keeping many off the web.The CenturyLink outage was a blow to business for Nailea Valdivia, owner of May Eleven Boutique in the Des Moines East Village.”We need that, that’s how we take most of our payments,” she said.Fortunately, Valdivia was able to bypass the internet outage by using her mobile phone as an internet hotspot, but even that had its limitation.» Download the free KCCI app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google PlayGet the latest headlines from KCCI
A water line break caused widespread phone outages in Iowa, impacting area hospitals and emergency services on Thursday.
A spokesperson for the city of Des Moines confirmed to KCCI that a water line break at the Lumen Technologies, a key telecommunications company, building located in the 600 block of 9th Street in downtown Des Moines, is the cause.
Water leaked through parts of the building, causing the outage in part because workers needed to power down equipment, according to the Iowa Communications Network, a fiber optic network that serves government and public safety agencies. Some internet providers in the affected areas — CenturyLink and Quantum Fiber — are part of Lumen.
A spokesperson for Lumen confirmed an outage impacted landline 911 calls along with phone and internet service for some customers in central and eastern Iowa but did not provide details on the number of people impacted, or a timeline for fixing the issue. A statement from Lumen said, “Restoring impacted services is our top priority.”
Shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday, a Lumen spokesperson said the “vast majority” of broadband services impacted by the outage have been restored. Work on restoring landline 911 and phone services continues.
According to Des Moines police, administrative phone lines were not functioning properly Thursday morning.
Des Moines police cited “a significant malfunction at the service provider” for the outage.
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MercyOne facilities across the state also reported problems, saying inbound calls were not going through and received a busy signal. The Iowa Clinic and UnityPoint also reported problems with inbound calls.
The Polk County Emergency Management Agency said the ability to reach 911 by landline phones was impacted. Polk County EMA recommends dialing 911 using a mobile phone if you have an emergency during the outage.
Texting 911 is also available throughout Iowa.
Automated alarm systems may also be unable to complete calls according to Polk County EMA, so you are asked to dial 911 from a mobile phone to report the alarm.
Elsewhere in the metro, the city of Johnston also reported similar issues. The city reported problems affecting city hall, public works, parks, Johnston Public Library, and the public safety building.
Warren County, Boone County and the city of Waukee were among several other communities in central Iowa to report problems with phone lines.
The water line break, and subsequent telecommunications outages, started a dramatic chain of events on Thursday, shutting down landlines throughout the state and keeping many off the web.
The CenturyLink outage was a blow to business for Nailea Valdivia, owner of May Eleven Boutique in the Des Moines East Village.
“We need that, that’s how we take most of our payments,” she said.
Fortunately, Valdivia was able to bypass the internet outage by using her mobile phone as an internet hotspot, but even that had its limitation.
» Download the free KCCI app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play
