Hurricane Helene Leaves Southeast Cut Off From Internet Amid Widespread Outages
Authors: Tara Kelly, Amanda Meng, Zachary Bischof, Alberto Dainotti
Days after one of the worst storms to hit the United States since Hurricane Katrina, communities in the Southeast have been cut off from the Internet, which is also hampering rescue and recovery efforts.
Several states continue to be impacted by Internet outages due to Hurricane Helene, with over a million people reportedly without power.
With hundreds of people missing in some Hurricane-affected states, media reports show a lack of access to the Internet alongside power outages, which is hurting communities in the rescue and recovery effort.
IODA, the Internet Outage Detection and Analysis project led by Internet measurement researchers at Georgia Tech’s Internet Intelligence Lab, shows data on Internet outages across the states impacted by Hurricane Helene. The IODA project’s data measures the connectivity of Internet infrastructure; these methods do not always capture cellular network connectivity.
IODA data is provided alongside a short analysis for the following states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. While many Internet providers often have backup generators and other contingency plans in the event of such outages, media reports say massive flooding has evaded such efforts.
IODA data shows that Internet infrastructure connectivity is experiencing more disruption in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia than in Florida.
Hurricane Helene formed on September 24, 2024, and dissipated on September 29, 2024. Internet access is still limited days after the storm.
North Carolina
The chart below shows North Carolina’s Internet connectivity has been disrupted since Hurricane Helene hit. Between September 27 and 28, 15% of the networks in North Carolina stopped responding to IODA’s pings or were deemed non-responsive.
As of October 7, Internet infrastructure across the state is still recovering, with 91% of networks online compared to 94% before Hurricane Helene. Access to IODA’s dashboards is available here.
South Carolina Internet connectivity from September 27 - October 7
According to the chart below, South Carolina’s Internet connectivity has dropped since Hurricane Helene hit, with the lowest at 74% of networks online. As of October 7, IODA’s data reveals some connectivity has been restored with active probing now at 92% and routing announcements close to fully recovered at ~99%. However, before Hurricane Helene, South Carolina’s active probing data was between 95%-96%. Access to IODA’s dashboards is here.
Georgia’s Internet connectivity from September 27 - October 7
The chart below shows that the state’s Internet connectivity has dropped since Hurricane Helene hit Georgia. According to IODA, active probing data dipped to 84% on September 27 amid the storm. As of October 7, Georgia’s active probing data shows 94%, with most Internet connectivity restored. Access to IODA’s dashboards is here.
Florida’s Internet connectivity from September 27 - October 7
As shown in the chart below, the state’s Internet connectivity in Florida over the course of Hurricane Helene. According to the IODA tool, active probing data dipped to 92% on September 27 amid the storm. As of October 7, Florida’s active probing data shows 96%, with most Internet connectivity restored. Access Florida connectivity signals here. With Hurricane Milton considered an “extremely dangerous threat” to Florida, we expect IODA signals to demonstrate loss of Internet connectivity.
For media covering this story, please contact Amanda Meng, Zachary Bischof, or Alberto Dainotti via ioda-info@cc.gatech.edu for comments and analysis.
About IODA
IODA monitors the Internet in near-realtime to identify Internet outages affecting countries, subnational regions, and networks. Visit IODA for more information.