PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 DA 16-1162 Released October 09, 2016 FCC’S PUBLIC SAFETY & HOMELAND SECURITY BUREAU ANNOUNCES THE EXPANSION OF DISASTER DATA COLLECTION IN RESPONSE TO HURRICANE MATTHEW On October 7, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) activated the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) to receive information on the status of communications equipment in counties in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-activates-dirs- hurricane-matthew. As of this time, DIRS remains activated for all of the counties listed in the October 7th public notice. The disaster area has been expanded to certain counties in North Carolina and Virginia as well as Horry County, South Carolina. The additional areas of interest for this activation includes the following counties: North Carolina: Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Moore, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Robeson, Tyrrell, Wake South Carolina: Horry Virginia: Chesapeake City, Hampton City, Norfolk City, Portsmouth City, Virginia Beach City Reports for these additional counties are requested beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, October 10, 2016, and every day after that by 10:00 a.m. until DIRS is deactivated. The Commission requests that communications providers expeditiously submit and update information through DIRS regarding, inter alia, the status of their communications equipment, restoration efforts, power (i.e., whether they are using commercial power, generator or battery), and access to fuel, if they provide service to any areas listed below. Communications providers can accomplish this by accessing DIRS at https://www.fcc.gov/nors/disaster/ or PSHSB webpage (www.fcc.gov/pshs). Providers that have not previously done so will be asked to first provide contact information and obtain a User ID when they access DIRS. NORS reporting obligations for the affected areas are suspended when companies report in DIRS. Communications providers that serve an area listed below and that have already provided contact information in DIRS will be sent an e-mail requesting that they provide the above-referenced status information through DIRS. We encourage all communications providers that have not already logged onto DIRS to input their contact information, to do so as soon as possible. DIRS is a voluntary, web-based system that communications providers, including wireless, wireline, broadcast, cable and Voice over Internet Protocol providers, can use to report communications infrastructure status and situational awareness information during times of crisis. For further information, please contact John Healy of the PSHSB’s Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability Division at (215) 847-8094 or John.Healy@fcc.gov. News media contact Rochelle Cohen at (202) 210-8279.