Flood of 911 calls overwhelm NYC emergency call centers during Tropical Storm Isaias
A flood of 911 calls has overwhelmed emergency call centers as Tropical Storm Isaias rolled into New York City on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the mayor’s office said there were “no technical issues with 911.
“Call volume is high due to the storm and downed trees,” City Hall rep Bill Neidhardt wrote on Twitter. “New Yorkers should continue to report downed trees to 311 and call 911 to report life threatening emergencies.”
Residents trying to report passengers stuck inside cars after trees toppled over due to high winds were met with an answering service, a video posted to Twitter shows.
The FDNY confirmed the “high call volume” but did not say whether the flood of calls caused any issues with responses.
A spokeswoman for the NYPD said there was “no 911 outage.”
“Due to an increase in call volume in light of the storm and downed trees, there was a temporary delay. The current call volume is being handled now with no delays in service.”
The department doubled the number of operators on Tuesday — from 65 to 130 — in anticipation of the storm.
Councilman Joe Borelli called for a probe into the issue.
“The council’s committees on emergency management and technology will be calling for a joint hearing on today’s issues surrounding 911 & 311 call volume,” the Staten Island Republican wrote on Twitter.
