Verizon Wireless service restored in Pa., NJ, Del.

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Wednesday, June 24, 2015
VIDEO: Verizon Wireless service impacted
The storm affected Verizon Wireless service.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Tuesday night's storm impacted Verizon Wireless service for customers in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey.

In a statement, Verizon said the issue began around 1:00 a.m. Wednesday due to the storm and a "fiber cut that affected the redundant equipment we have in place to provide system back-up."

Verizon said the issue impacted both voice and data for customers in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties in New Jersey; New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware and in Chester County, Pa.

Verizon says the service was restored for Chester County, Pa. and Delaware around 10:00 a.m. and southern New Jersey counties as of 2:00 p.m.

Earlier, the Chester County Department of Emergency Services posted on their Facebook page that calls made from Verizon cell phones to a landline were receiving busy signals, including calls to 911.

They urged residents to dial 911 first, but if unable to connect, use the text feature.

In Delaware, the Wilmington Police Department and the New Castle County Division of Public Safety both issued alerts on the Verizon Wireless problem.

In Wilmington, officials say customers could not make any calls including emergency ones from their cell phones.

The New Castle County Division of Public Safety urged anyone at the time with an emergency to find another means of communication.

"The cell phone carrier is aware of the problem and the division hopes that normal communications will be restored in the near future," the advisory read.

Meanwhile, users from areas in New Jersey including Atlantic City, Blackwood,and Pitman were contacting Verizon Wireless on their Twitter support account @VZWSupport.

Verizon Wireless issued the following statement Wednesday:

We are aware of an issue with our cellular network, which began around 1:00 am. this morning. The service interruption was caused by the impact of yesterday's storms and a fiber cut that affected the redundant equipment we have in place to provide system back-up. The issue impacted both voice and data for customers in a portion of Burlington County, Atlantic, Cape May, Salem, Cumberland, Gloucester and Camden counties in New Jersey; New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware and in Chester County, Pa. As of 10:00 a.m., service has been restored in Delaware and Chester County, Pa. We are working diligently to restore service as quickly as possible in the other affected areas. We apologize for any inconvenience.