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Citrus County, FL - A widespread phone outage has severely impacted mobile 911 and non-emergency call capabilities throughout Central Florida, forcing residents to rely on alternative methods to contact emergency services.
The Citrus County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday afternoon that all mobile phone lines used for both emergency and non-emergency calls are currently down.
The alert was issued shortly before 4 p.m. on July 8th, and as of now, the issue remains unresolved.
According to law enforcement officials, only landline phones can currently dial 911 successfully.
Residents who rely on mobile phones are being urged to use the text-to-911 function in the event of an emergency.
This alternative service remains operational and can be accessed from any mobile device capable of sending text messages.
No cause for the outage has been disclosed.
Technicians are actively investigating the disruption, and officials have not indicated whether the failure was the result of a technical malfunction or a broader systems issue.
At this time, there is no evidence to suggest any criminal activity is involved, and no suspects or arrests have been reported in connection with the outage.
Authorities are encouraging residents to remain calm, be prepared with backup communication options such as landlines, and monitor official channels for ongoing updates.
The sheriff’s office emphasized that public safety remains a top priority.