Cut cable disrupts 911 service in wide area

A cut cable between Cape Girardeau and Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, left some people without functioning 911 services Wednesday.

Cape Girardeau County Emergency Management director Richard Knaup said AT&T representatives told the Jackson Police Department there was a cable cut about 4 p.m. Wednesday, leaving AT&T cellular and VOIP customers unable to use 911.

Big River Telephone, he said, uses AT&T VOIP services and also was affected.

Knaup said he didn’t know how the cable was cut or how many people were affected, but said the event was the most significant cell outage he’s seen in several years.

“This has not happened in several years that I’m aware of, and that outage was just locally; several years ago, a cable was cut between Cape and Jackson that isolated Jackson and the Cape call centers, and that was it,” he said. “This is the largest area one that I’ve seen.

“I’ve tried to call my counterpart in Perry County (Hank Voelker), but I can’t get ahold of him because he has no cell service up there with AT&T,” he said.

Jackson police were told the cable would be repaired and back in service by 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Knaup said.

Landlines still worked, he said.

“People will have to get by with what they can,” he said. “It’s always good to know the seven-digit [emergency] numbers.”

Local police numbers:

• Cape Girardeau Police Department: (573) 335-6621
• Jackson Police Department: (573) 243-3151
• Cape Girardeau County Sheriff’s Department: (573) 243-3551

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627