FCC Triggers Disaster Reporting as Dorian Approaches

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The FCC Tuesday (Aug. 27) activated its voluntary disaster information reporting system for communications providers throughout Puerto Rico as tropical storm Dorian approaches.

At press time Wednesday, the storm was predicted to be near hurricane strength as it approached Florida, perhaps a category two, so the FCC will likely extend that reporting to the continental U.S. if that storm tracks remains.

Related: FCC Won't Pull Licenses Form Hurricane-Affected Dark Stations

The FCC's Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) is a web-based system in which broadcast, cable and voice providers report infrastructure status and "informational awareness" info.

Related: Pai FCC Gets Bipartisan Praise for Puerto Rico Restoration

The FCC has an ongoing Network Outage Reporting System (NORS), but that will be suspended "for the duration" in the affected areas, trumped by DIRS reporting. 

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.