PLATO, Mo. (KY3) – Residents of the Evening Shade community in Texas County have been without cell service or internet for more than a week following the April 1 storm.
AT&T is the service provider and confirmed the outage. Residents said they were frustrated it was taking so long to get help.
“It’s very frustrating,” said Matt Bates, a firefighter at the Fort Leonard Wood base.
Bates typically receives emergency alerts on his cell phone.
“Without cell service, I didn’t get any calls to Fort Leonard Wood. Not that I was on duty, but if something big happened and they needed to call the firefighters back, I wouldn’t get any notifications,” Bates said.
Candace Perry works from home for a credit card company. Her job requires internet and cell phone service.
“Without the internet, I wouldn’t be able to find a job. So my income relies heavily on access to services,” Perry said.
She said she has been unable to work since the April 1 storm.
They blamed nearby towers and carrier AT&T but said they couldn’t get answers.
“If I didn’t have physical documentation that there was an outage, I’d be fired, and this is my livelihood. If I couldn’t pay my bills, everything would fall behind; my husband is in the military,” Perry said.
South entrance of Ft. Leonard Wood is nearby. We told you earlier this year that the doors would now close overnight. If there is an emergency, people can call.
“What if something happens? I mean, the gates close at 9 o’clock at night, so we can call 911 and tell them we have an emergency because we have no service. So we come out to this place in the middle of nowhere. What are we going to do?” ,” Perry said.
AT&T shared KY3’s statement:
“Recent severe weather damaged a tower near Evening Shade, and some of our customers may experience wireless outages as a result. We will repair and restore service as quickly and safely as weather conditions permit. Thank you to our customers as we complete the work Please wait patiently.”
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