2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season Report - Impact on Communications

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was notable for the devastation wrought to various types of infrastructure, including communications. The adverse effect of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season on communications increased in magnitude as the season went on. Leadership at the Commission undertook fact-finding missions to the hardest-hit regions. To determine what went right, what went wrong, and how to better prepare for future hurricane seasons, the Commission sought comment from stakeholders through a variety of means, including a public notice, critical information needs workshop, and after-action reporting both within the Commission and with federal emergency response partners. Significantly, the Commission stood up a Hurricane Recovery Task Force (Task Force), charged with coordinating a comprehensive approach to support the rebuilding of communications infrastructure and restoration of communications services, particularly for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. This Report includes actions the Commission took during, and in response to, the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season; lessons learned and observations to assist the Commission, service providers, local and regional emergency response authorities, and other stakeholders when confronting hurricanes; and next steps that the Commission will take to improve its disaster response and recovery efforts.

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said: "....releasing this report 85 days into the current hurricane season and as an historic storm gets closer to Hawaii’s shores, is simply too little, too late. After Hurricane Katrina, this agency established an independent panel that brought to bear a broad background of public safety and industry experiences, including first-hand knowledge of the devastation wrought. We didn’t do that here. After Hurricane Sandy, this agency convened a series of field hearings to help inform recommendations and action to improve network resiliency. Again, we didn’t do that here. Instead, we lump together four of the most destructive storms in recent history into one 38-page report with a list of recommended, voluntary best practices for federal government partners, service providers, 911 call centers, and consumers. Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate all have had their names retired because of their high damage and loss of life. In short, this slim and long-overdue review fails to capture the gravity of these storms. As we are already seeing, Mother Nature’s wrath is sure to visit us again. I hope going forward we can make a greater effort to learn from disasters in a timely way, so we can do more to improve emergency response and infrastructure recovery.”