TAVARES —The standard 911 voice system was experiencing difficulties in Lake County and other parts of central Florida on July 8 up until about midnight.
Emergency management notices were sent out via email, phone calls and texts instructing citizens that they could text to 911 while the voice calls were unavailable.
Though the text service works, for the most part, Text-to-911 may not be available in all areas and can be less reliable than voice calls, according to the FCC.
Explanation for the outage: It “has been linked to the cutting of a fiber optic cable in the Clermont area,” a press release said.
Lake County’s government spokesperson said that about 1 million Florida residents were affected and that locating and repairing a severed fiber optic cable is a complex process requiring specialized crews and equipment.
Crews were working in the Groveland area on U.S. 27 on July 8 to address the cut fiber line.
Marion County was experiencing the same problem. Once service was restored, the county notified residents after midnight with a mobile loud phone alert sent to subscribers of government notifications.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: 911 calls were restored last night. Which county woke residents to tell them?
Reporting by Julie Garisto, Leesburg Daily Commercial / Daily Commercial
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