WASHINGTON—The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau has announced the activation of the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) in response to Tropical Storm Dorian, which is already affecting parts of Puerto Rico. DIRS is a voluntary, web-based system that communications providers, including wireless, wireline, broadcast, cable and VoIP providers, can use to report communications infrastructure status and situational awareness information during times of crisis.

The affected providers are are asked to submit and update information through DIRS regarding the status of their communications equipment, restoration efforts, and power (i.e., whether they are using commercial power or back-up power), by accessing DIRS at https://www.fcc.gov/nors/disaster/.

For providers that participate in DIRS, the separate Network Outage Reporting System (NORS) obligations are suspended for the duration of the DIRS activation with respect to outages in the counties/municipalities where DIRS has been activated. Reports are requested beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET on Aug. 29 and every day after that by 10:00 a.m. ET until DIRS is deactivated.

For now, the affected areas only include most of Puerto Rico, however it could be expanded as Dorian is anticipated to hit the east coast of the United States, possibly as a Category 2 hurricane, by this weekend.