What If You Can't Call 911?

There are any number of reasons that you won't be able to call 911 for help in an emergency. Let's look at the issues in and around New Orleans, after Hurricane Ida swept through the area.

In Jefferson Parish, cell phones can't reach the system. In some cases, anyway. Cell phone providers having 911 difficulties in Jefferson Parish

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office is reporting that multiple cell phone providers are having difficulties routing calls to through their 911 system.

Officials are asking as providers work through this, residents call the administrative number for the 911 center at 504-227-1400 if needed.

Do you know the non-911 number for police or fire in your area? What would you do if 911 breaks?

The Jefferson Parish sheriff's office was also urging people to limit travel, as it is still dangerous. You don't want to be part of the problem, when they are still trying to see if people need rescuing.

In Lafouche Parish, the Sheriff's department phone lines are cut off. Lafourche Parish 9-1-1 and phone lines down.

It is hard to call 911 for help if they can't answer the phones, though the sheriff has apparently put some workaround in place.

9-1-1 and phone lines are down at this time. For Emergencies only call (985)-772-4810 or (985) 772-4824 in Lafourche Parish. If busy, please keep trying.

There are probably more issues in other places.

Calling 911 is a fine thing to do. Under normal circumstances, they can send all kinds of help your way, and even guide you through some actions while you wait. But in the aftermath of a regional disaster, like a category 4 hurricane, circumstances are not normal. You need to be prepared to survive on your own, at least for a while. And in the case of something like this, it would have been very good for people to have evacuated ahead of time. There were several comments by people on the various news reports I was watching Sunday night, where people basically said, "I've never seen weather like this before." What you saw last time, was not the NE quadrant of a category 4 hurricane, so no, you didn't see this before.