911 systems across Mississippi and Louisiana were down Thursday afternoon, authorities said.
The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said AT&T was reporting damage to some of its fiber optic lines and that was affecting 911 services across the state. Across Louisiana, 911 phone lines are also down. The state's most populous cities, including Baton Rouge and New Orleans, reported emergency system outages Thursday afternoon.
"We are assessing now as crews for AT&T are on the ground making repairs," agency spokesperson Scott Simmons told The Associated Press.
Officials were notified a little after 1 p.m. local time Thursday afternoon that there were problems with the 911 calls, authorities said at a news conference. Officials said after 1:35 p.m., there was a major fiber cut that resulted in a 911 outage in most of Louisiana and Mississippi, and there was no indication it was malicious. A resolution is expected to come in the next few hours, they said.
Law enforcement agencies across both states took to social media, urging people to call local phone numbers if they were experiencing an emergency. Those with non-emergency issues are discouraged from calling.
Mike Steele, spokesperson for the Louisiana Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, told AP that the agency "is standing by if there are any requests for and there have been no requests for local support from our parishes at this time."
"Nothing I've seen indicates a cyberattack," Steele said.
St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office also reported its 911 and non-emergency lines "are down," according to a post on X.
Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards said most parishes in the state are being affected by the outage.
In southwest Louisiana, the Cameron Parish Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness urged people using "cellular devices" to contact a local number for emergencies due to a "massive phone outage." But the agency said that calls to 911 via a landline "will still go through."
Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office is one agency where its 911 line is still operational. The department said in a statement that it uses the "Next Generation 911" system, which is a "complete overhaul" of the current system, replacing "legacy copper wire technology."
In the meantime, residents in impacted areas are urged to call alternative emergency service numbers, posted by law enforcement on social media, as needed.
