Floods Telcos and FCC outage reports

[Sean Donelan <sean () donelan com>]

The New Jersey state utility commission completed its investigation into the
Rochelle Park, NJ central office failure due to flooding this fall.  Bell
Atlantic originally reported the cause as a dam breaking and water entering
through doors left open by AT&T.  AT&T disputed the report filed with the FCC.

The state board investigators found no dam had broken and water had entered
by a number of entrances, including cable vaults, basement plumbing fixtures,
as well as the rear door.  Bell Atlantic's report didn't mention the flood
water entering through other entrances.  The state board couldn't conclude
whether any one source was the cause of the shutdown of the power plant at
the central office.  The board ordered both Bell Atlantic and AT&T to make
improvements, investigate the flood risk at other locations, and report back
to the board.

Bell Atlantic stands by its report, except they now agree no dam broke.  The
FCC's investigation is continuing.

Source: Bergen County Record http://www.bergen.com/news/flood23199912234.htm