A statewide telecommunications outage Thursday impacted internet and landline phones services, including calls to 911 and area hospitals.
The outage is widespread, affecting everything from work-from-home employees, to bank ATMs, to restaurant credit card machines. Lumen Technologies did not have an estimated time for restoration.
Lumen, which also operates CenturyLink internet, had an internal water pipe break at its facility in Des Moines, which has “diminished” its electrical capacity, according to the Polk County Emergency Management Agency. Lumen is working to bring additional generators online, Polk County said.
Iowa Communications Network said in a statement it was told “water from the pipe leaked through to the basement and collected in the risers, which then collapsed. Teams were unable to use the on-site generators because they were routed through the collapsed risers.”
Lumen has had to power down some equipment as crews fix the issue, ICN said.
The company said in a statement its “techs are working hard to fix a service disruption.”
“Restoring impacted services is our top priority,” it said.
In a statement after 4 p.m., Lumen said the water pipe had been repaired “and we are rerouting power around the compromised electrical feeds.”
In Des Moines, phone lines went down at 5 a.m., city officials said in a statement.
911 calls in Des Moines and to Westcom, which dispatches to the western suburbs, are only being completed through wireless phones. Anybody that needs emergency police, fire, or mental health services should call 911 from their mobile device. Text to 911 also is available in all 99 counties.
Cities in the metro and across the state are reporting similar issues. Calls are not being completed as dialed and callers may hear a busy tone.
Many city services in Des Moines are impacted, including calls to customer service departments, libraries and city administration. Des Moines spokesperson Debbie McClung said residents have still been able to contact city departments like Parks and Recreation and Public Works through online options including emails and the myDSMmobile app, and staff has been able to respond. Des Moines is unaware how many people who’ve tried to call the city but haven’t gotten through.
McClung said the city has not received word yet on how long it might take to get service back up and running.
In Waukee, the police and fire non-emergency line is down but “otherwise we’re business as usual,” said city spokesperson Heather Behrens.
Landline phones are down at MercyOne facilities across the state, including MercyOne Siouxland, North Iowa, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, Oelwein, Des Moines, West Des Moines, Dubuque, Newton, and Centerville Medical Centers. Broadlawns reported its phone lines for the main hospital, pharmacy refill and East University Clinic also were down.
“Throughout the day, we have set up incident command centers throughout our system to develop and deploy alternate communication methods to continue caring for our patients and communities,” MercyOne spokesperson Ali Boettcher said in a statement. “We have also spent significant attention on creating new methods for transferring patients to and from other area hospitals to provide an excellent continuum of care.”
Some restaurants were impacted. Urban Cellar in West Des Moines posted to social media it is unable to take online or phone orders. Flying Mango in Des Moines asked customers to bring cash for dinner service because its credit card machines were down.
First Citizens Bank, with branches in northern Iowa, posted on X the outage has affected its phone lines, ATMs, online and mobile banking, and debit card usability.
Polk County Emergency Management said Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, the governor’s office and Iowa Health and Human Services were actively working on the issue.
Reporters Virginia Barreda and Phillip Sitter contributed to this report.
José Mendiola is a breaking news reporter for the Register. Reach him at [email protected].
Elaine Hadley is a dedicated journalist covering the ever-evolving landscape of U.S. news. With a keen interest in politics and a commitment to uncovering the truth, she provides insightful commentary and in-depth analysis on domestic issues. When not reporting, Elaine enjoys exploring the diverse cultures and landscapes of the United States.
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