The effects of Hurricane Helene continue to impact the southeastern US, with widespread cell service outages in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, days after the Category 4 storm made landfall in the Big Bend region in Florida.
Major wireless carriers – AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon – are actively working to restore service, although none have provided a specific timeline for full restoration.
Here you will find the latest progress and updates from each provider.
Weather alerts via SMS: Sign up to receive updates on current storms and weather conditions by location.
When will Verizon restore service?
Many cell sites in the affected areas are running on backup power due to widespread power outages depending on fueling operations.
Damaged or unpowered fiber optic cables connecting mobile sites to the wider network will be repaired as quickly as possible, with alternative connections deployed to restore service.
Recovery is underway, but progress is slow.
Here are the latest updates from Verizon:
-
North Florida: While much of the network has weathered the impact of Hurricane Helene, service disruptions remain, primarily due to flooding and commercial power loss near the Tampa coast. Some areas between Tallahassee and Jacksonville are also experiencing outages.
-
East Georgia: Population centers such as Valdosta, Savannah and Augusta are beginning to recover. Limited service will be available to affected customers.
-
Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina: Significant service impacts remain due to historic flooding and extensive damage in these areas, making access and recovery efforts challenging. Recovery is underway, but progress is slow.
-
East Tennessee: Service impacts have been reported in some areas and recovery teams are actively working to restore connectivity.
Verizon is waiving postpaid domestic calling/text/data usage from September 26 through October 5.
More: How to Help Storm and Flood Victims in Western North Carolina: Where to Donate, What to Do (and What Not to Do)
When will AT&T restore service?
AT&T has established a disaster relief base camp in Georgia to coordinate resources and support ongoing recovery efforts in affected regions. Shipping yards are also being organized in multiple states to improve efficiency.
“To date, Public Safety has submitted more than 80 requests for emergency connectivity support in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, and we will continue to prioritize their response and recovery communications needs,” a statement from the company said. .
Here are the latest updates, according to AT&T:
-
Florida: Network improvements are already visible as more crews are dispatched to restore service.
-
Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia: Recovery efforts are underway, but no timeline for full recovery has been given.
-
North Carolina and South Carolina: Extensive damage has been reported and repairs are expected to take significant time, with no timeline for recovery.
AT&T announced that from September 27 to October 27, it will waive talk, text and data overage fees for AT&T Postpaid and Prepaid customers with billing addresses in 1,415 affected zip codes. Fees for residential and business landline orders placed through October 27 will also be waived.
More: Floods in Helene destroy businesses in Asheville River Arts District: ‘Completely destroyed’
When will T-Mobile restore service?
According to a statement from the company, more than 500 responders, field engineers and technicians are currently deployed at T-Mobile.
Here are the latest major updates:
-
Florida: The network has been almost fully restored in Tampa and is functioning as expected in Miami, Orlando and surrounding areas. Additional portable generators are being deployed in Jacksonville and Valdosta to restore the remaining locations affected by power outages.
-
Georgia: Efforts to deploy portable generators and microwave equipment continue, especially in the Augusta area. Fallen trees and heavy traffic are causing minor delays in recovery.
-
South Carolina and North Carolina: More than 60 additional portable generators were deployed and more than 100 locations were restored on Saturday. A SatCOLT has been deployed to Hendersonville to support local public safety. Now that access to the western Carolinas has improved, site assessments and recovery efforts will continue. There is no clear timeline for restoring service.
-
Tennessee: Access to the site is restricted due to unsafe conditions. Ongoing power outages and a third-party fiber outage are impacting service in Johnson City. We are working closely with our supplier and expect the repair to be completed later this evening.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Cell phone outage: Recovery time unclear after Asheville flooding
