State will investigate after 911 outages in multiple Nebraska counties

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — A call to 911 can save your life, but outages last week kept some Nebraskans from getting through to emergency call centers. 

On Thursday, a fiber-optic cable owned by the company Lumen was cut, knocking out 60% of the 911 centers across the state.

SEE ALSO: 911 lines are working again after many Nebraska emergency centers lost service

Two days later, a fire at the Windstream Communications Center disrupted 911 calls in southeast Nebraska. 

“The Public Service Commission as a regulatory body will open an investigation into both of those outages,” said Dave Sankey, director of the state’s 911 Department.

After the outages, lawmakers are raising concerns, and some are calling for a legislative investigation. 

Sen. John Fredrickson of Omaha is part of the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee. He said he was encouraged that there was a text alert system in place but still thinks there are many questions that need to be answered.  

“How do we have backup in place?” he asked. “What is that backup plan? And not just plan A or plan B, but really plan C, D, E and even F,” 

If an outage happens again in Lancaster County, law enforcement said there are some alternatives for you to keep in mind. 

You can call the non-emergency number at 402-441-6000.