Verizon Wireless is adding recovery efforts in Alabama, with portable towers and Verizon Wireless stores in affected areas. It is offering free phone calls and charging to anyone who needs help regardless of whether they are Verizon customers or not.
Verizon Wireless has deployed two Cells on Wheels (COWs) in Tuscaloosa and Pleasant Grove to boost coverage in two of the hardest hit areas of the state.
Mobile communication stores are open Monday - Saturday from 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. and on Sunday from 12 p.m.- 6 p.m. CDT.
Temporary towers are operating in Cullman, Centreville, Jasper and east of Lake Martin to replace towers badly damaged in the storms.
Verizon added capacity on existing towers in Bessemer, Birmingham, Decatur, Guntersville, Hueytown and Midfield to accommodate increased traffic across the network.
More than 99 percent of Verizon Wireless' network across the state is fully operational.
In addition, all Verizon Wireless locations in the affected areas, including those in Huntsville, Decatur, Guntersville, Fort Payne, Cullman, Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, are open to residents, regardless of whether or not they have Verizon Wireless service, so that those impacted by the storms can make calls and charge phones.
Mobile communication stores providing charging stations, phones, and retail service are operating at Hill's Foodland Grocery in Pleasant Grove (851 Park Road) and at Publix in Harvest (5850 Alabama 53). A mobile internet café is set up near Phil Campbell High School (65 School Avenue, Phil Campbell), and a phone bank has been set up at Scott Elementary School in Pratt City (1517 Hibernian Street).