Saturday, October 27, 2012
Telecommunications company has spent months making improvements in hopes of avoiding another 911 system failure.
An estimated 2.3 million people lost access to 911 service this summer when the area was hit by a derecho. Now, with Hurricane Sandy lined up to potentially slam Northern Virginia, Verizon — the company that provides the emergency communication service — is confident that the long list of improvements it has made in the months since are enough to weather the storm. "We're ready for Sandy," Verizon spokesman Harry J. Mitchell told Patch in an interview Friday evening. In late September, Verizon released an 11-page Moving Forward presentation (see the PDF attached at the right) outlining the issues with its power system and internal and external communication that contributed to the 911 system failure — and the steps that have been or will …
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Northern Virginia's extreme weather started last winter, meteorologists say.
Derechos, blizzards, hurricanes, thunderstorms, extreme heat...is there any wacky weather Northern Virginia hasn't seen in recent years? This past summer saw enough 100-plus degree days to make 2012 the most intense in 141 years of record-keeping according to the Capital Weather Gang. “Starting from this past winter, we had temperatures that were much above normal,” said Ken Widelski of the National Weather Service. “It was an abnormally warm winter, followed by a cooler than normal spring and we definitely had our periods of hot weather over the summer.” As for this June's derecho, it’s typical climatologically for this area to see a derecho every couple of years, Widelski explained. What was unique about this year's derecho was the …
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Fairfax County encourages residents to take a brief online survey.
As hurricane season looms, Fairfax County officials want to know how they can improve their communications during times of crisis, and they’re seeking feedback from residents. After the June 29 derecho that killed four people in Fairfax County and damaged more than 100 homes, officials want to know how they can best interact with residents and business owners during emergencies like severe weather, hurricanes or even terrorist attacks. “We’re asking for every resident to provide input, as well as business owners,” said David McKernan, coordinator for the Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management, in a release on the county’s web site. “It’s important for us as emergency planners to learn how this storm affected our residents, …
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Representative from power company gives insight into response to June 29 storm
In a recent town hall meeting, Dominion Virginia Power blamed a lack of advance preparation time for their week-long power restoration following the June 29 derecho storm. “It is very scary to be without any kind of communication or air conditioning when we experience a million-year storm,” said Del. Kaye Kory (D-38th), who called the meeting in Falls Church so residents had a chance to communicate directly with the service providers. Dominion's problems stemmed largely from the storm’s sudden arrival, the company said. “This was the equivalent of a hurricane moving across the nation with little time for preparation,” said Tim Sargeant, manager for state and local affairs with Dominion Power, who added Dominion generally has a week or so …
Communications company explains 911 outage, among others, at town hall meeting.
Generator problems are to blame for Verizon's response to the June 29 derecho storm, a company representative said Thursday during a town hall meeting hosted by Del. Kaye Kory (D-38th) in Falls Church. Doug Sullivan, of Verizon, said the derecho storm “downed more poles and generated more commercial trouble tickets for Verizon than Hurricane Irene” and blamed the loss of service, particularly to the 911 network, on “multiple failures cascading from the generator problems”. Due to the power outage, Verizon did not have enough information to create a plan to fix the damage and restore power to its customers. “It is very scary to be without any kind of communication or air conditioning when we experience a million-year storm,” said Kory, who …
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Fairfax County files formal report with the FCC about the 911 failures during this summer's derecho.
Fairfax County officials have filed a formal report with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding widespread 911 failures in the area during and after the June 29 derecho. The rare and intense storm caused the deaths of four county residents and damaged more than 100 homes. According to a July report from the county, 911 calls received in the county increased by 415 percent in the four hours after the derecho hit at roughly 10:30 p.m. on June 29. But from 7:36 a.m. until 3 p.m. on June 30, 911 services disappeared. The county’s new comments to the FCC blame the 911 outage on the failure of Verizon’s backup power sources and damage to equipment in the area. These factors, combined with what the county deems “Verizon’s failure …
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
New Environment Virginia report says extreme rain and snow storms are coming more frequently.
Extreme rainstorms are occurring 33 percent more frequently in Virginia since 1948, according to a new Environment Virginia report. Based on an analysis of state data from the National Climatic Data Center, the report released Tuesday found that heavy downpours that used to happen once every 12 months on average in state now happen every nine months on average. Moreover, the biggest storms are getting bigger. The largest annual storms in Virginia now produce 11 percent more precipitation, on average, than they did 65 years ago. Centreville and surrounding areas were hit hard by the derecho storm a month ago. Key findings from the report for Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic include:
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Comments are due by Aug. 17.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is seeking public comment on the 911 system failures during the June 29 derecho storm. Comments are due by Aug. 17 and reply comments are due by Sept. 17. Comments may be filed electronically. More information on how to submit your comments available in the attached PDF. The impact of the storm was particularly severe in Fairfax and Prince William counties, where an estimated 2.3 million people in Northern Virginia lost access to 911 services for up to four days following the June 29. Local government officials told the FCC that public safety answering points, which process calls to 911 facilities, failed, as did traditional, broadband and wireless backup systems. The FCC joined forces with the …
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Sometimes old school technology, or none at all, is the most effective way to deal with emergency situations
The old expression “hanging by the telephone” might confuse anyone under 30 these days. They have no idea what it was like before the advent of cell phones, and for those under 40, they may not remember a time without call-waiting or even answering machines. You had to wait at home for important phone calls. Fast forward to today: You find yourself in a wireless dead zone or your battery dies. Desperation sets in. How will I call home? How can I connect with those I am supposed to have a business meeting? Enter old school technology Do you know that an address book also refers to a small book that has room for alphabetical listing of your friends, family and business contacts with their numbers, addresses and other information? Even if you…
Friday, July 13, 2012
Moran, Connolly, Wolf want the FCC to reconsider a regulation concerning backup power that the commission proposed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Northern Virginia's three congressmen called on the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday to take action that will prevent future outages to the region's 911 systems. In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, U.S. Reps. Jim Moran, Gerry Connolly and Frank Wolf asked that the commission dust off a post-Hurricane Katrina regulation that would have required all telecommunications companies to provide at least eight hours of backup power for all cell phone towers. The regulation was subsequently struck down on a technicality related to how the commission handled public comments, according to a news release. “In the event of an emergency situation, whether it be a natural disaster or man-made threat, the public needs confidence …
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