ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — 9 Investigates learned in the hours leading up to Hurricane Matthew’s landfall, Orange County’s non-emergency hotline became so overwhelmed that some callers were getting a busy signal.
The 311 call center is meant to keep non-emergency calls away from 911 lines.
In the hours leading up to Hurricane Matthew’s landfall, there were so many calls about sandbags, shelters and other supplies flooded into the 311 system, the lines became so overwhelmed and shut callers out.
“The average, run-of-the-mill Thursday is 700 to 900 calls, and we had about 1,200 calls on Thursday (Oct. 6), and the day before the storm we had 1,700 calls,” 311 Support Center supervisor Robert Phillips said.
County leaders told Eyewitness News that Matthew was the first major test for the non-emergency system.
It was launched after the 2004 hurricanes.
“It is a concern to all of us, we want them to get the information they need,” Orange County Fire Rescue Chief Otto Drozd said.
When the system started shutting out callers, the number of active lines were quickly doubled. Phillips told Channel 9 during future events, 311 will activate more lines even sooner.
"I'm sure it was frustrating for them in a time of need the phone system is not available.
Certainly I can understand the frustration certainly it was concerning to us," Phillips said.
County leaders are also looking into an automated response for callers in case the system becomes too busy.
The goal is to encourage them to try back in a few minutes and not call 911.
"That it was overwhelmed during this event, since (the storm) didn't hit us. (It) gives us the ability to look at the system, evaluate, and put resources in place for the next time," Drozd said.
County leaders also want to encourage callers to use the 311 mobile app when lines get busy.
Cox Media Group
