PANAMA CITY, Fla. (AP) — Life in some of the hardest-hit areas of the Florida Panhandle improved drastically as widespread cellphone service returned for the first time since Hurricane Michael.
Mexico Beach Mayor Al Cathey had a one-word exclamation when his Verizon phone started working Tuesday for the first time in nearly a week: "Hallelujah!"
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Verizon service also resumed in storm-damaged Panama City, where residents haven't been able to contact loved ones or call for help.
AT&T service was drastically better in the days after Michael, but even it was spotty.
Cathey says communication problems have been his biggest problem in Mexico Beach, where destruction is widespread. He says Verizon is the dominant cellphone company in the area.
More @Verizon sites have come online in the last 12 hours, including around Panama City, FL. We have sustained unprecedented damage to our network and are responding in an equally unprecedented way, including aerial cell assets and mobile command centers http://t.co/EtoazHO78Lpic.twitter.com/tMEb35WTUV
— Hans Vestberg (@HansVestberg_) October 16, 2018
