911 system down temporarily in Clay County

At 6:48 a.m. Tuesday, an emergency alert was sent to local residents stating the 911 area emergency system in the county is down.

There was a second alert sent clarifying that the 911 services are only down temporarily. At 11:18 a.m. 911 services were restored. 

The Vermillion Police Department tweeted twice about the system crash.

“Vermillion and Clay County are currently experiencing a 911 system outage. Officials are working to repair the issue, and we will update you once it has been fixed. In the meantime, routine lines ARE functioning normally,” the tweet said.

According to the second tweet by VPD, people can contact their office in the case of emergency while 911 is unavailable.

“Because of the prolonged 911 service outage and an uncertain timetable for repair, we utilized a service to alert our area of the emergency,” the tweet said.

Thomas Sepulveda, a sophomore acting major, said he was shocked to find out it could take a few days to get 911 back functioning normally.

“I think this will impact the student body because in any emergency situation (students need) the immediacy of calling 911,” Sepulveda said. “All of Clay County can’t reach 911? That’s crazy. I mean especially in Vermillion where, unfortunately, as far as campus culture goes, rape culture is a thing. I just feel like any aid like that is frustrating that it’s just down.”