Many Americans living in the areas most affected by Hurricane...

percent, compared to 25 percent Tuesday (CD Oct 31 p1). “This figure includes many cases where cell sites that are otherwise operational are effectively inoperable because of outages in other parts of the communications infrastructure, which is highly interdependent,” the FCC said. “With regards to cable services, it appears that outages have declined to approximately 12-14 percent, from initial outages estimates of 25 percent.” Some public safety answering points are still having to reroute calls to other call centers, but 911 calls can be made throughout the area, said Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky. “We have reached out to every affected 911 center and the relevant state authorities, and we are talking to communications providers about what can be done to address this,” he said. Chairman Julius Genachowski said the situation is improving. “Overall, we're seeing both continued improvement in communications networks and also that much work remains to be done to restore service fully,” he said. “The supply of fuel to generators is essential to keep communications service up and running, and we're working with federal, state, and local authorities to speed fuel delivery. This is a priority because our commercial communications networks are essential to emergency response and recovery efforts, as well as to commercial activities and connecting with family.”