LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Schools and businesses throughout Kentucky are still reporting outages due to an explosion in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning that impacted an AT&T central office.
As of Saturday afternoon, around 60 school districts were without internet access. Kentucky Department of Education spokesperson Toni Konz Tatman said the outage appears to be schools in central and western Kentucky, though KDE offices in Frankfort have been impacted.
"We have been in constant contact with AT&T and they have assured us they are working with service management to make sure KDE and the rest of the state agencies receive the priority necessary to restore services and quickly and safely as possible," Konz Tatman said.
The outage has also impact the Jefferson County Coroner's Office's phone and fax lines, said Chief Deputy of Investigation Scott Russ.
"We apologize to any families trying to contact us or Funeral Homes trying to contact us for cremation approvals via fax," Russ said. "Funeral homes can scan and email cremation request to my email address at Scott.Russ@louisvilleky.gov and we will try to approve them as quick as possible until our phone and fax lines are restored."
Walmart announced the AT&T outage has caused temporary internet outages at some stores, impacting their ability to process credit card transactions or returns.
"We are actively working with local personnel to get our stores back online and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause," the company's corporate communications said in a statement.
According to a Facebook post, the Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) is also experiencing a network wide outage due to the explosion. LFPL says their website, associated applications, computer services and phone lines are unavailable.
The Associated Press reported that sweeping communication outages were taking place across both Tennessee and Kentucky Friday and Saturday.
“It is likely related to the event in Nashville, but no confirmation of that from AT&T," said Paul Burns with LFPL. "We have no timeline for when service will be restored, but we are working on it.”
Until services are restored, computer used appointments at library branches will be canceled.
While these services are under repair, branches are offering curbside pickup of materials. The post says that staff will keep a lookout on curbside parking spots for those who use the service.
Federal investigators have identified a person of interest in the explosion. While no arrests have been made, officials did search the home of 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner of Antioch, Tenn.
According to reports, officials were working to determine whether Warner was responsible for the explosion that damaged 41 businesses and injured at least three people.
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