The Troubling Quiet of North Carolina’s Cell Service Outages

More than a week after the remnants of Hurricane Helene unleashed catastrophic flooding in much of western North Carolina, cell service remains spotty—or, in many cases, nonexistent. Not being able to text or call has complicated relief efforts, made previously straightforward daily tasks difficult and even kept people in the dark about whether or not their loved ones perished in the storm. Relief workers said the lack of cell service is making them less efficient. Some described multiple aid groups, unable to coordinate on the go, arriving at the same house one after another. In areas of North Carolina that were affected by the storm, more than 20 percent of cell sites were still down on October 4, according to the Federal Communications Commission. On Sept. 28, a day after the area suffered its worst damage, about 82 percent of Buncombe County’s cell towers were offline, mostly because of power outages and disruptions between the fiber optic lines and cell towers.