WAKE FOREST, NC –  A CenturyLink network outage is impacting telephone and internet service as of 4 p.m. Saturday. Technicians are working to isolate the problem, which may be affecting eastern North Carolina.

Currently, about 85% of CenturyLink’s phone lines are functioning in eastern North Carolina. The outages are a result of damages from Hurricane Irene. CenturyLink will begin to repair all issues once it is safe for employees to access the area.

CenturyLink encourages customers to be prepared for severe weather season by keeping at least one telephone in the home that does not need to be plugged into a power outlet. All cordless telephones must be plugged in and will, therefore, not work during power outages.

“CenturyLink’s priority is customer service and restoring communications,” Kevin McCarter, CenturyLink’s vice president for Central and Eastern North Carolina, said. “We appreciate our customers’ patience while we work to resolve this issue.”

For more information, customers are encouraged to call CenturyLink about these outages. Residential customers can call 800-788-3600, and business customers should call 800-786-7262.