Phone lines are down for a number of local businesses due to last week’s EF-3 tornado that devastated parts of Nashville and swept through central Tennessee. Some of the affected businesses in Owensboro include Baird Private Wealth Management, Walgreens on Frederica Street, the City of Owensboro, including all of its Parks & Recreation locations and Longhorn Steakhouse.
According to Rick Hobgood, a certified wealth adviser with Baird, the Nashville tornado has put 144,000 different phone lines out of commission across western Kentucky and Tennessee. Phone lines have been down at the Baird Private Wealth Management Owensboro location since the tornado caused a two-mile-long cut to AT&T’s fiber line.
“Our main trunk line has been out since last Monday,” Hobgood said, adding that the tornado also cut phone lines for Baird’s other locations in Bowling Green, Henderson and Hopkinsville.
According to Hobgood, the first step toward fixing the issue required all affected AT&T phone lines to be put out of operation before the damaged power lines could be fixed.
It’s been business as usual for Hobgood and his team at Baird, but the downed phone lines haven’t exactly made it easy to communicate with their clients. However, Hobgood said, clients can reach those at Baird via email, their personal cell phone numbers or by calling 1-800-588-1598.
“We’ve sent out emails to our clients and have posted about the issue on social media, but a lot of our clients may not check their emails for a week at a time,” he said.
OPS hasn’t experienced quite the same communication cut as Baird, as Public Information Officer Jared Revlett said the school district is able to receive all incoming calls but has experienced minor issues with outgoing calls.
“Every once in a while, we’re having trouble getting calls out because those calls are routed through Nashville,” he said.
But businesses and agencies like Walgreens on Frederica St., the City of Owensboro and Longhorn Steakhouse currently can’t receive calls at all. Walgreens provides an automated message service that states prescriptions can be refilled through the automated service, but those calling cannot reach the pharmacy or store by phone at this time.
According to officials with the City of Owensboro, those who try to reach City Hall or the Parks & Rec department will be met with a busy signal.
Hobgood was told Baird’s power lines would be fixed Monday, with hopes that the main fiber line could be fixed by Wednesday or Thursday.
“It’s a big deal for us because our livelihood exists through our phone lines,” he said.
