Internet companies brace themselves for Isabel

HURRICANE ISABEL was able to shut down the federal government and the DC Metro system before it even made landfall yesterday afternoon, but the region’s telephone and internet providers had already dialled up their emergency reserves to weather out the storm.

Verizon Communications, the Washington metropolitan area’s primary local phone and high-speed DSL Internet service provider, said technicians are checking back-up power systems to make sure that its telephone service continues in the event of a power outage.

The company is monitoring the network’s performance from its New York headquarters and three other regional centres outside of the storm’s path, and can reroute telephone and Internet traffic around any parts of the network that are damaged by Isabel.