Latest news with #MitchellCounty
CNET
5 days ago
- Business
- CNET
Hurricane Season Is Here: Here's What Really Happens When Your Internet Goes Out
Internet and power outages often linger briefly after big storms pass through, making it difficult to check in on loved ones. But sometimes, those internet networks can take much longer to repair. Over 974,000 homes and businesses experienced power outages after Hurricane Helene swept through rural mountain communities on Sept. 27. It was a hurricane that no one in the western Carolinas could have expected, a 'one-in-1,000-year" storm worsened by prior rainfall and the region's rugged mountainous terrain. Neighborhoods in Mitchell and Yancey counties were left without internet for weeks following Helene's devastation. Long after the hurricane had swept through the Southeast: 23,236 cable and wired internet customers were still reportedly out of service, according to the FCC's last report on Helene recovery efforts from Oct. 19. Internet service providers are among the first on the ground after a natural disaster, alongside power companies, first responders and the Department of Transportation. So, where exactly does an internet provider start when it comes to repairing a vast network after a natural disaster -- especially one as destructive as Hurricane Helene? I talked with experts from the top ISPs in the country to find out. Preparation starts early For most ISPs, disaster recovery efforts begin long before a hurricane ever hits the ground and require advanced technology to repair networks devastated by storms or other natural disasters. 'Preparation actually starts before any storm,' said Elton Hart, vice president and regional general manager of the Mid-Atlantic area for Optimum. 'We are monitoring these [storms] as far out as we possibly can.' Locating local internet providers Optimum repairing internet infrastructure in Hendersonville, NC following Hurricane Helene. Optimum For midsize internet providers like Optimum and major companies like Verizon and T-Mobile, having a disaster recovery plan is essential -- especially in mountainous regions where rural communities may have limited connectivity. As hurricanes are more predictable than forest fires, for example, these ISPs can take preventative measures like topping off generators with fuel, deploying personnel and crews on standby and communicating with customers about the possibility of outages. 'During Helene and Miltion, we deployed over 800 generators throughout all of the impacted states and kept them running,' Stacy Tindall, senior director of network engineering and operations at T-Mobile, told CNET. 'Some of which I think are still running today, where there are extended power outages to support those areas.' T-Mobile deploying a generator following Hurricane Helene. T-Mobile Depending on the storm and the terrain, ISPs have to get creative Even with preparation, few weather models predicted Hurricane Helene would hook so far into Appalachia with its deadly rains and historic flooding. The extent of damage to roads, bridges, aerial power lines and fiber cables resulted in mass power outages across affected counties. 'It was one of the few times when power was 100% down,' said Hart. 'So even if we had connectivity, there was no power to the house.' Power and fiber cable network outages are the top reasons your internet may shut off -- and stay off -- during a storm. Most ISPs, even fixed wireless ISPs, rely on a fiber-optic cable infrastructure as a backhaul for their network. Establishing buried fiber cable infrastructure in mountainous areas is difficult and expensive, so aerial fiber networks are extremely common. Unfortunately, as in the case of a storm like Helene, those aerial cables are some of the first casualties, as they are easily damaged by falling trees, branches, strong winds, flooded roads and subsequent mudslides. According to the NC Department of Transportation, there were more than 6,900 sites on damaged roads and bridges following Hurricane Helene. To get to network hubs and damaged fiber optic lines ISPs had to coordinate with the DOT, power companies and first responders also making their way through the damage zones. 'We were getting reports of major delays, just an inability to go into areas that were still heavily flooded or the debris clearing was taking a long time," said Gina Owens, associate vice president of access engineering and operations at Verizon. "So that's one situation where it isn't unusual to see fiber infrastructure repair delay after power has come back up.' 5G wireless internet providers use wired fiber backhaul service, as in the case of Verizon and T-Mobile. However, these wireless internet providers can more easily navigate the damage to a fiber network by using different technologies to keep people connected following a major storm. 'We have full satellite assets that we deploy, and in this event, we used low-Earth orbit satellites to deploy that were very quick to get up and running,' said Owens. Verizon Over at T-Mobile, response teams used a variety of technologies to reconnect customers -- ensuring that within 72 hours, around 96% of sites were restored with service. In addition to testing a satellite-to-cell service with Starlink, T-Mobile also used a Cognitive Self-Organizing Network that "self-heals" to optimize performance, temporary microwave units and remote antenna tilting to ensure swift recovery. 'We can remotely and automatically do antenna tilts at the top of [cell] towers so that we can expand our coverage,' said Tindall. 'We did over 121,000 antenna tilts during Hurricanes Helene and Milton and all of that was remote and automated.' T-Mobile Your power is on, but you still don't have internet Even as power slowly returned to the regions distressed by Hurricane Helene, many households were still left without internet or any means to communicate with loved ones. 'Just because power comes back up doesn't mean that fiber infrastructure is restored,' said Owens. Although power companies may repair poles and restore power, internet providers "may not be taking the same path to get to you," Hart said. ISPs rely on multiple fiber paths to connect your home to a network and re-splicing a fiber network requires more time and attention to detail to avoid damaging the fiber-optic (glass) cables. Due to the material that fiber cables are made of, they must be respliced strand by strand. 'There can be anywhere from 12 to 120 strands where you've got to go back and every single one of those has to be reconnected,' Hart said. Even after power and internet are restored to an area, ongoing repairs to the surrounding networks can cause subsequent outages as various companies coordinate re-splicing fiber lines. Some internet providers saw setbacks in network restoration due to expensive repairs to infrastructure -- or even accidental cuts to fiber lines from third parties working to restore connectivity. Spectrum, one of the largest internet providers in the Southeastern region, reportedly had 31,5000 customers still disconnected as of Oct. 16 due to slow network infrastructure repairs and destruction to network hubs. Skyrunner, a local provider based in Asheville, reported that the "final Helene repairs to Skyrunner infrastructure are underway this week" on November 12, nearly six weeks after Hurricane Helene's devastation. Although Owens said that Verizon had fully restored its network in Georgia by Oct. 16, there was still a lasting impact on the area, and 'rebuilds [took] a lot longer than anticipated.' 'We were still dealing with two major areas within Georgia, for example,' Owens said, 'where because of the extensive damage, not just the initial damage but as debris clearing and road clearing are happening and rebuilds are happening, things were getting cut where we had restoration -- things were going back down.' In addition to network restoration efforts, many ISPs -- including T-Mobile, Verizon and Optimum -- were among a range of internet providers that offered free Wi-Fi services and charging stations throughout areas affected by Hurricane Helene. Even as internet providers prepared for Hurricane Helene, hundreds of thousands of customers experienced long-lasting power, internet and cell outages. Despite the staggering destruction to power and fiber infrastructure, finding any means of keeping the internet on during an outage or using a free hotspot to reach a loved one was a lifeline. What can you do? Getting disconnected during and after a storm can be terrifying. But there are a few steps you can take to ensure you and your loved ones stay safe. Use a backup power solution like a generator or power bank. Use a mobile hotspot Use a cellular internet backup service such as AT&T Internet Backup, T-Mobile Home Internet Backup or Xfinity Storm Ready Wi-Fi If it's safe to travel, ISPs often make hotspots freely accessible after a storm path or send trucks that offer free Wi-Fi and charging. While getting online is certainly important for checking in on loved ones and getting invaluable information, your safety should always come first. Think twice before tampering with electrical equipment after a storm, as there could be power surges or other issues at play. In extreme cases, you can use a battery-powered or hand-crank radio for updates. Stay informed and stay safe.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Georgia mayor and two others jailed for trying to halt local election
CAMILLA, Ga. (WSAV) — The mayor of Camilla, Ga., and two former election officials have been jailed on felony charges stemming from efforts last November to halt a local election after one of the mayor's allies, Venterra Pollard, was disqualified from a city council race. Mayor Kelvin Owens was held at the Mitchell County jail Friday, two days after a grand jury indicted him on a felony charge of election interference and a misdemeanor count of conspiring to commit election fraud. Camilla, a farming community of about 5,000 people, is about 225 miles from Savannah. The city's former elections superintendent and her former deputy superintendent were also jailed. Rhunette Williford and Cheryl Ford were charged with the same crimes as the mayor, plus misdemeanor counts of failing to perform their duties as public officers. Mayor Owens had blamed the local upheaval on racial politics, saying that Pollard, who is Black, was targeted by white residents trying to wrest power from the majority Black population. The city of Camilla is nearly three-fourths Black. All three defendants remained in jail awaiting a hearing Monday. District Attorney Joe Mulholland, whose circuit includes Camilla, declined to comment on the indictment Friday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press
30-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Georgia mayor and 2 others are jailed on felony charges for trying to halt a local election
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The mayor of a small city in Georgia and two former election officials have been jailed on felony charges stemming from efforts last November to halt a local election after one of the mayor's allies was disqualified from a city council race. Camilla Mayor Kelvin Owens was being held at the Mitchell County jail Friday, two days after a grand jury indicted him on a felony charge of election interference and a misdemeanor count of conspiring to commit election fraud. Also jailed were the city's former elections superintendent, Rhunette Williford; and her former deputy superintendent, Cheryl Ford, who is currently Camilla's city clerk. They were charged with the same crimes as the mayor, plus misdemeanor counts of failing to perform their duties as public officers. Chaos roiled special elections for a pair of city council seats in Camilla last November amid a long-running legal battle over local politics in the town, a farming community of about 5,000 people in rural southwest Georgia. The case revolved around Venterra Pollard, a city council member removed from office last summer after a judge ruled he wasn't a Camilla resident. Pollard ran to regain the position in the fall special election. Another judge ordered Pollard disqualified and ruled that votes for him should be discarded. In addition, the city was ordered to post signs saying votes for Pollard wouldn't be counted. On Nov. 4, the day before Election Day, both Williford and Ford quit as the city's two top elections officials. Their joint resignation letter blamed 'mental duress, stress and coercion experienced by recent court decisions regarding our role in elections.' Owens, citing his emergency powers as mayor, moved swiftly to halt the city's elections. Signs posted at City Hall and a notice on Facebook declared the election was canceled. Polling places were closed to both poll workers and voters in the morning. The elections were held, albeit several hours behind schedule, after Superior Court Judge Heather Lanier appointed new supervisors to oversee the voting and ordered polls to remain open until nearly 4 a.m. Elections for president, Congress and other offices weren't affected. Mayor Owens had blamed the local upheaval on racial politics, saying that Pollard, who is Black, was targeted by white residents trying to wrest power from the majority Black population. The city of Camilla is nearly three-fourths Black. The Georgia NAACP said in a statement on Facebook that it was 'deeply alarmed' by the allegations of election interference as well as the arrests of Owens and the two former election officials, all of whom are Black. 'We were shocked that there were indictments,' said Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia NAACP. 'We are still in a fact-finding mode to see what actually happened.' All three defendants remained in jail awaiting a hearing Monday. It was not immediately known if any of them had attorneys who could speak for them. Messages seeking comment were left at two phone numbers for Owens. The Associated Press could not find working phone numbers for Williford or Ford. District Attorney Joe Mulholland, whose circuit includes Camilla, declined to comment on the indictment Friday.
The Independent
12-05-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
Western North Carolina faces ‘first noteworthy flooding threat' since Hurricane Helene
Western North Carolina is again being targeted by hazardous rainfall that forecasters say is expected to lead to its 'first noteworthy flood threat' since last September's deadly Hurricane Helene. The Southeast state, which has been recently charred by weeks-long, wind-driven wildfires and pounding rain, has continued to pick up the pieces in months since the storm left communities flooded with muddy, brown water and resulted in the deaths of more than 100 people. This storm is not anticipated to be anywhere near the magnitude of Helene, but 'it is the first noteworthy flooding threat in the area since Helene according to the National Weather Service,' Mitchell County told residents. The slow-moving low-pressure system is projected to bring showers and thunderstorms, including the potential for isolated tornadoes on Monday afternoon and into the evening. A flood watch is in effect near the Blue Ridge Encampment into Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Service. Another flood watch was issued through early Tuesday in central North Carolina, bringing rainfall totals of two to four inches. Northeast South Carolina is set to get one to three inches by Tuesday. Mitchell County, which borders Tennessee, is about an hour from the hard-hit Buncombe County, said three to five inches of rain were possible there, with some other areas 'getting as much as six to ten inches in a 24-hour period.' The rain could continue through Wednesday evening, but a slight chance of showers resumes on Thursday, according to The Asheville Citizen-Times. There might be more over the weekend. "The potential for flash flooding, even landslides, being mentioned by the National Weather Service office, there's a lot of concern for these communities," FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin said. The landslides and flooding could impact Helene clean-up in the coming days. The efforts have been ongoing for months, with roads still closed months later. "It is eight months since Hurricane Helene just devastated parts of our country," Merwin said. "You think about western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, just changed forever. They are still recovering. But, with today's flash flood threat, the recovery process could become more complicated."
