COLONA, Illinois — Some Colona, Ill. residents are experiencing a prolonged outage of their AT&T telephone landlines.
A representative from the department reports that several residents have stopped at the police department, concerned that their phone lines have not been working for several days now. In these cases, the landline is their only form of telephone communication.
"For our seniors without any kind of phone service, we thought that was unacceptable," Laura Lamantia with Colona Police Department said.
"Week and a half, I couldn't get a hold of a doctor," 89-year-old resident Everett Fisher said. "I couldn't get ahold of nothing without a phone."
After the department reached out to AT&T on behalf of those residents, they were told that the forecasted date of restoration was February 2.
Officers are issuing temporary emergency phones and welfare checks if needed. Police said affected residents should borrow a neighbor or friend's phone or stop in the department at 215 1st St. to receive a backup phone for the time being.
"Our phone is our lifeline," Fisher said. "If I had a heart attack right now, me and the wife would be here without no help at all."
News 8 reached out to AT&T for comment and we received the statement below.
“Our technicians have already restored landline service for some customers in the Colona area, after it was disrupted by recent severe weather. We are working as quickly as possible to bring the rest back online and we apologize for the inconvenience.”
It's unknown how many residents have been affected.
WQAD News 8 will update this story as more information is made available. Download our app and subscribe to our YouTube channel for updates.