FCC Wants Emergency Info as Hurricane Matthew Hits

The FCC’s Public Safety & Homeland Security Bureau has activated the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) for Hurricane Matthew and wants info from communications providers in affected and potentially affected areas.

DIRS is a web-based system via which broadcasters, cable operators and others can report the status of their communications capabilities and "situational awareness."

The FCC wants info on "the status of their communications equipment, restoration efforts, power [i.e., whether they are using commercial power, generator or battery], and access to fuel." DIRS can be accessed at https://www.fcc.gov/nors/disaster/ or the bureau webpage.

The FCC advises any communications outlet in the affected areas below that has not logged into DIRS and provided their contact info to do so as soon as possible.

Those who are already in the system will get an email requesting that they provide the above info.

The affected areas are:

Florida: Brevard, Broward, Clay, Collier, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Indian River, Lake, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Polk, Putnam, Saint Johns, Saint Lucie, Seminole, Volusia

Georgia: Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty, McIntosh

South Carolina: Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Jasper

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.