Hurricane Sandy Service Update: Verizon Employees Continue Working Round-the-Clock to Restore Voice, Data, Internet and TV Services in Mid-Atlantic, Northeast

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Nov. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon employees are in the field Sunday (Nov. 4) in a continued, comprehensive effort to reconnect voice and data communications, Internet and TV service to consumers, businesses and government clients. 

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121104/NY05802-a )
(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121104/NY05802-b )

Service Restored to Thousands of Customers in Mid-Atlantic, Northeast:

• Another critical Verizon facility in lower Manhattan now is back in operation on backup power, after unprecedented flooding in the area.  The company has restored backup power to five of these key facilities, which provide phone, Internet and TV services for consumers and small businesses in the area, as well as sophisticated data communications for financial services, other enterprises and government agencies.
• Verizon engineers and technicians continue to work round-the-clock to restore backup power to other flooded critical facilities in lower Manhattan and Queens in the absence of commercial power.
• Late Saturday night (Nov. 3), the utility company serving much of the New York City area revised its estimate for restoration of commercial power to lower Manhattan, pushing the date out to Friday (Nov. 9).  (The latest estimates can be found on the utility company's restoration map by locating the mouse over the lower Manhattan area and zooming in.) This complicates Verizon's ability to get services back up and running at a couple of key facilities serving business clients.
• Even as backup power is restored to these facilities, Verizon must also repair heavily damaged outside facilities to bring back service.
• Verizon employees restored service to thousands of customers on Saturday (Nov. 3) in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, and on Sunday (Nov. 4) they will continue to bring voice, Internet and TV back for more consumers, businesses and government clients.  Crews continue to work round-the-clock in the hardest-hit New Jersey and New York region to restore services.  (NOTE: To view or embed a video of Verizon crews restoring service in Atlantic City, N.J., visit http://vz.to/PwaV1r.) 

Focusing on Fuel; Supporting Emergency Responders, Communities:

• Verizon continues to work with fuel suppliers and federal, state and local government officials to secure the fuel essential to keep generators and service vehicles running so Internet access and voice and data communications can continue to flow.
• Verizon has deployed a number of vehicles and self-contained emergency inflatable air shelters from its disaster recovery fleet to assist local government, public-safety and emergency management agencies at locations in Brooklyn, Long Beach, Queens and Staten Island in New York, and Hazlet, Hoboken and Ortley Beach in New Jersey.  These mobile stations provide organizations with communications, Internet, video capabilities in particularly hard-hit areas where such services may not currently be available.  (NOTE: To view or embed a video of an emergency response vehicle in Rockaway Beach in Queens, N.Y., click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mImNQDsziw&feature=youtu.be.) 
• Many Verizon FiOS and Verizon Wireless stores in the affected region are open to people who need to charge their wireless devices.  Several Verizon Wireless mobile stores-on-wheels that have been moved into the hard-hit New Jersey and New York areas are also providing this service. 
• To aid in Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts, the Verizon Foundation is matching customer text-to-donate contributions to American Red Cross relief efforts up to $1 million.  Customers can make a $10 donation by texting REDCROSS to 90999, and those who would like to give more can donate up to $50 via text.  For more on the Verizon Foundation's Sandy support, click here.

Customers can contact Verizon online at www.verizon.com/outage to report any wireline service-related issues; or call 1-800-VERIZON (1-800-837-4966).  Please note that hold times will be longer than normal due to higher calling volumes.  For prior Hurricane Sandy updates, click here.

For more information on Verizon Wireless efforts related to Hurricane Sandy, visit the Emergency Information Center. 

Verizon Enterprise Solutions updates are available at www.verizonbusiness.com/info/hurricane.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with nearly 96 million retail customers nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to customers in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company with $111 billion in 2011 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 184,500.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at www.verizon.com/news.  To receive news releases by email, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases.

SOURCE Verizon