MACON, Ga. — Crews are working to repair two of the main towers at the Macon-Bibb County E-911 Center after lightning struck them during Tuesday night’s storm.
The county says the system is running; however, it is spotty in some areas of town depending on radio frequency. In cases where there is spotty service, the county’s backup systems step in.
County manager Keith Moffett says it was “substantial damage” with major components of the towers being damaged and wires “fried.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Moffett says the towers’ manufacturers and the county’s IT team were making repairs on the tower, and it’s expected to be fully repaired by the end of the day.
These towers only affect the center dispatching to first responders, but does not affect calls coming into the 911 center.
“Our operators are greatly trained. If one system goes down, we immediately switch over the secondary system,” Moffett said.
Moffett says they are “more than prepared” going into Thursday’s forecasted severe weather.
“Just because we have three systems that do that, one may not be 100%, but that does not mean our overall capability is degraded,” Moffett said. “That’s why we have backups.”
911 Communications Center director Shandel Graham says dispatch operators have an emergency action plan in place when there's damage or any failure of the primary system.
“We want to assure the citizens of Macon-Bibb County that the calls are still coming in and getting out to our first responders,” said Graham.
County spokesperson Chris Floore says it’s been a year and half to even two years since lightning caused this extent of damage to communication system towers.
RELATED HEADLINES
