A worldwide Microsoft outage caused disruptions to 911 services in Alaska, Arizona, and Oregon. Hospitals and government agencies were impacted by the outage, with some still working to recover. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs stated that her team is closely monitoring all impacted services and working to ensure critical services continue to be delivered. There were delays reported in certain services, and updates were promised as new information became available.
The outage was caused by a faulty update by Crowdstrike, a partner of Microsoft, which led to companies relying on Microsoft’s Windows system, including airlines and banks, pausing their work. Non-emergency operations in numerous hospital systems were suspended, and local TV channels temporarily paused their shows. In Alaska, emergency calls to the 911 dispatch center were down but returned by 4:23 a.m. local time, with alternative phone numbers provided for residents based on their location.
In Phoenix, the local police noted that their computerized 911 dispatch center was down, but the 911 call line remained operational. Systems were restored by 8:49 a.m. E.T., with Phoenix Police asking people seeking non-emergency police assistance during the outage to remain patient as officials worked through the calls. In Oregon, 911 calls were still functioning, although the Bureau of Emergency Communications reported issues with their Mobile Data Terminals and Computer Aided Dispatch systems. Workers were able to manually take calls to ensure emergency services continued to operate.
Governor Katie Hobbs expressed gratitude to the Bureau of Emergency Management and Bureau of Technology Services for their efforts in addressing the outage. Across the impacted states, efforts were being made to restore services and address any remaining issues caused by the outage. The outage highlighted the importance of reliable emergency systems and the need for contingency plans in the event of technology failures. As services continued to recover, officials were working to keep residents informed and ensure that critical services were not compromised.
The outage also served as a reminder of the interconnected nature of technology systems and the potential impact of a widespread outage on essential services. Companies and agencies were urged to review their technology infrastructure and contingency plans to minimize the impact of future outages. The incident underscored the importance of maintaining reliable communication systems, especially in critical situations where lives may be at stake. Authorities were working to ensure that emergency services were fully restored and operational, while also investigating the root cause of the outage to prevent similar incidents in the future.
