FIBER CUT: Northern Florida

Tue May 4 20:10:18 UTC 1999

A fiber cut has been reported in Northern Florida (Tallahasse?).  Repair
crews are enroute, but no estimated time for repair.

In other news, last evening severe storms and at least one F-5 tornado
and eighteen other tornados passed through Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.
34 confirmed deaths.  At least six electrical power substations were
destroyed.  Most interstate telephone lines are buried in the area, and
the telephone buildings just happened to get missed.

Southwestern Bell Telephone reports very high telephone traffic as people
tried calling into or out of the area, causing some congestion and blocked
calls.  No problems reported with any Internet backbone providers at this
time, but there may be some dig-ups as heavy machinery is used to clear
debris in the area over the next few weeks.
-- 
Sean Donelan, Data Research Associates, Inc, St. Louis, MO
  Affiliation given for identification not representation