Frontier responds to storm outages - WOWK 13 Charleston, Huntington WV News, Weather, Sports

Frontier Communications has deployed its crews to assess its networks and begin repairs after a violent storm knocked out electricity to hundreds of thousands of residents causing widespread damage.

"We are working with electricity service providers and emergency responders to coordinate our restoration efforts," Dana Waldo, Frontier senior vice president and general manager for West Virginia, said in a news release. "While the safety of our men and women is our first priority, we are making every effort to restore service quickly."

Waldo said the company is working with its labor partners, the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers along with all other employees to work through the emergency conditions to provide communities and customers with service as soon as possible.

Waldo said Frontier has made it a priority to work with emergency services directors to process telephone calls to 911 centers affected by the storm. He said the loss of power can disrupt telecommunications services, but Frontier uses batteries and generators to operate facilities even when power is lost.

"A customer may lose service if phone cables that serve their neighborhood or residence are damaged, but many if not most customers still have use of their landline, non-cordless, telephones," Waldo said in the news release.

Waldo said Frontier employees will work through the weekend and upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

"We ask our customers to be patient as we work and coordinate with other utilities and public
emergency personnel in responding to this major storm," Waldo said in the news release.