Port Aransas was virtually cut off from the world for 3 ½ hours on Tuesday, Oct. 23. Residents were without telephone service off Mustang Island and had no Internet or e-mail ability. In many instances, cell phone service was also down.

The problem was a sliced cable, which happened at about 1:25 p.m., according to CenturyTel phone company spokesman Tracey Moses.

CenturyTel crews finally located the break near the intersection of Zahn Road and State Hwy. 361 on Padre Island. After the break was found, it was a relatively short time before service was restored, Moses said.

"The break was actually outside CenturyTel's service area, and was on the AT&T side of the line," Moses said.

Because the break was in a line connecting to AT&T service, Cingular or AT&T mobile service customers also lost service, she said.

Why should wireless phones lose service when a wire is cut? Because sooner or later, even wireless phones use those wires.

"Your wireless call still has to go over the phone network," Moses said.

City Manager Michael Kovacs said city emergency services weren't disrupted by the break.

"I ... made a phone call to (the Corpus Christi Fire Department Emergency Management Coordinator via satellite phone to directly inform him," Kovacs said. Satellite phones, which aren't dependent on phone lines, were not affected by the loss of service.

Kovacs said he also notified the Texas Law Enforcement Teletype System, which is satellite based text messaging, and radioed the information to Metrocomm, the joint Corpus Christi Police Department and Nueces County dispatch center.

"No public safety incidents were worsened due to the disruption, and the city's radio system was fully functional," Kovacs said.

He called the incident "another real-life successful test of the alternative communication systems."