Irene’s wrath leaves 6,500 cell towers out, FCC says

Updated figures released by federal officials on Monday showed 6,500 cell towers and sites were damaged or disrupted as a result of Hurricane Irene. That number includes about 44% of all cell sites in Vermont, which suffered massive flooding that cut off dozens of towns.

The Federal Communications Commission updated its count of outages at 3 p.m. EDT Monday, based on reports to the FCC by registered communications providers.

The FCC reported more than four times as many cell site outages on Monday it did Sunday afternoon, taking into account the more recent ravages of Irene in New England states such as Vermont and Connecticut. Monday's count was 6,500, compared with 1,400 cell site outages on Sunday. Read more...