Ethermac|911 outages reported in 4 states as emergency call services go down temporarily

Multiple states lost access to emergency dispatchers late last night,Ethermac meaning that residents could not call 911. 

The issue affected parts of Nebraska, Texas and Nevada, and all of South Dakota. The outage was first reported around 10 p.m. local time. Service was restored around midnight, officials said. 

In Texas, the City of Del Rio Police Department said the outage was because of "an outage with a major cellular carrier." The department did not specify which cellular carrier was responsible. 

Lumen, a company that provides emergency communications services, said the outage was "due to a third-party company installing a light pole" and was "unrelated" to their own services. Lumen did not specify which third-party company was involved. 

An investigation into the outage is underway.

Affected areas recommended that residents call non-emergency numbers amid the outage.

In Las Vegas, Nevada, officials said that 911 calls from landlines were not working, but that dispatchers could still see incoming calls. Dispatchers worked to call back numbers that dialed in, officials said on social media. According to Henderson County, Nevada officials, texts to the 911 number were coming through even when the phone line wasn't working.

Officials told CBS News that all attempted calls made during the outage were responded to. 

In:
• Texas
• Nevada
• South Dakota
• Nebraska

Kerry Breen

Kerry Breen is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. A graduate of New York University's Arthur L. Carter School of Journalism, she previously worked at NBC News' TODAY Digital. She covers current events, breaking news and issues including substance use.

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