The FCC has provided an initial assessment of the impact of Hurricane Idalia on the communications infrastructure in Florida, with data showing that no TV stations and three radio stations were out of service at 12 p.m. ET on August 30th.
Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida early Weds. August 30 as an extremely dangerous category 3 hurricane.
In its initial assessment the FCC said that 76 cell sites in the affected area were out of service, about 1.2% of the total, and cable and wireline companies reported 58,941 subscribers out of service in the disaster area for Hurricane Idalia. This includes the loss of telephone, television, and/or Internet services, the FCC said.
The FCC said that there were two FM stations reported as being out of service (WTSM, WXJX) and one AM radio station reported as being out of service (WORL).
The FCC does not track power outages but USA Today reported that “at 2 p.m. ET, there were over 270,000 reported power outages in Florida, mostly in the northern part of the state, according to USA TODAY's power outage tracking database.”