How Memphis first responders handled nationwide cell phone outage [Video]

The Memphis Fire Department found that 911 calls from AT&T subscribers dropped from their usual 36 percent down to around 25 percent.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With the loss of cell service all over the country Thursday, people impacted in the Memphis area were forced to use landlines, social media or whatever they could to get in touch with loved ones.

The Memphis Fire Department (MFD), Shelby County 911, Memphis Police and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office all said they were able to continue responding to calls despite the outage. To do that, they had to rely on radio communication and utilize multiple ways to locate 911 callers.

“Well, it seems like today, the world has stopped,” said Tyra Turner-Cleasant, one of Memphis’ unhappy AT&T customers.

Turner-Cleasant said the only way she could communicate with family during the nearly eight-hour outage was through Facebook video messages.

“I’ve got sisters that have AT&T, and I haven’t been able to get a hold of them,” said …