WELLSBURG - Many Wellsburg area residents are without landline telephone service after a cable serving the area was struck by crews installing a utility pole at the intersection of state Routes 2 and 27 Wednesday afternoon.
Dan Page, spokesman for Frontier Communications, said the crews, who were with another company, drilled through the cable, severely damaging it, but service was expected to be restored in 24 hours.
Page said because the crews didn't drill completely through the cable, it's difficult to say how many customers were affected.
The West Virginia Division of Highways had announced earlier that a section of Route 27 would be closed Wednesday while crews affiliated with Mon Power replaced a utility pole. The pole was broken in a recent auto accident.
Brooke County Sheriff Richard Ferguson said Wednesday a temporary call center has been set up at the Franklin Fire Department because the county courthouse is without phone service.
Calls made by dialing 911 are being received and forwarded by the Hancock and Jefferson county emergency 911 centers and those dialed to the sheriff's department's (304) 737-3660 number were being routed through a cellular phone, he said.
Ferguson said the center can contact law enforcement and fire departments and ambulance services by radio.
He said the courthouse has remained open but staff members are unable to perform tasks involving the Internet.
