Augusta Residents Slowly Getting Back to Normal After Hurricane Helene
After the chaos caused by Hurricane Helene, residents of **_Augusta_** are starting to see some semblance of normalcy return to their lives. Many vital services, such as water and electricity, have been successfully restored to the majority of the community. However, there’s still a lingering struggle for those needing Internet access, which has posed a challenge for many families and businesses since the storm.
Restoration Progress
As of Sunday, WOW! announced that they have restored services to about **_60%_** of their customers in the Augusta area. If you’ve been affected by the outage, there’s some good news! The company is adjusting bills to account for your time without service back to when the outage began. For those facing significant damage to their homes and needing to pause their services and bills for an extended period, WOW! encourages customers to reach out to them. They are available to activate a pause service through the end of this year, without charging any late fees or additional costs to replace damaged equipment.
On Monday, Comcast, known for their Xfinity service, chimed in with their progress report as well. They stated that around **_77%_** of their Business and Xfinity customers have had their services restored—good news for anyone who relies on them for daily connectivity. They are pushing to complete full restoration by **_October 24_**, with dedicated crews working hard to make that goal a reality, even bringing in crews from other states to help expedite the process.
Service Restorations Across Providers
AT&T has reported significant headway as well, revealing that crews have successfully restored **_97%_** of their wireline customers’ services across the state. Though most issues remaining in Augusta are tied to debris, lack of power, or damaged critical infrastructure, they are making every effort to resolve these pesky hurdles.
Verizon has great news for cell phone users: **_100%_** of their cell sites in Georgia have been restored! Their team of system performance engineers is now focused on fine-tuning the system to bring network performance back to pre-storm levels, which is certainly a sigh of relief for anyone who relies on mobile connectivity.
T-Mobile, on the other hand, reports that they are almost fully restored, with all but **_two sites_** in areas outside of Georgia back up and running. They have less than **_1%_** of network sites left struggling, primarily in regions where conditions have been extra challenging. Overall, it seems like a large part of the area is starting to connect back to the world around them!
Finding Wi-Fi in Augusta
For those struggling to access the internet, don’t worry—there are still places in town where you can get some Wi-Fi. A number of businesses, parks, and public locations have offered free Wi-Fi for those in need. If you happen to know of additional spots where people can visit to connect online, please feel free to share the details! You can reach out via email to help spread the word.
While the road to full recovery may still have some bumps, the community spirit and determination of Augusta residents shine through in these challenging times. With service crews working tirelessly, hopefully, everyone will be able to reconnect and restore their routines sooner rather than later.
