FCC Adopts Disaster Information Reporting System 〈DIRS〉 Update in Time for Hurricane Season

The Federal Communications Commission has voted to modernize its Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) which collects and reports communications outage information before, during, and after emergencies such as hurricanes and floods.

DIRS is a web-based system that collects infrastructure status and service restoration information from communications service providers such as broadcasters during and after major disasters.

It is used by federal emergency management officials to more efficiently prioritize disaster response efforts. DIRS has been activated several times in Texas over the past decade, primarily for hurricane and other severe weather events.

The timing of the FCC's May 20 DIRS Report and Order coincides with the start of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season which opens next week. The season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.

Forecasters with NOAA's National Weather Service are predicting a below-normal hurricane season for the Atlantic basin this year. The agency is forecasting a total of 8-14 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher). Of those, 3-6 are forecast to become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 1-3 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5 with winds of 111 mph or higher).

The FCC said it streamlined reporting requirements and to allow communications providers such as broadcast stations "to focus more of their resources on service restoration during the immediate wake of a disaster," instead of "redundant paperwork in those circumstances when every second counts."

For manual filers, it permits the submission of a single streamlined form instead of multiple worksheets and it establishes a "one-click" option to indicate no change from the previous day's report. The new rules also simplify DIRS reporting requirements by eliminating fields that do not offer significant value to public safety stakeholders, ending the requirement to submit a final report after DIRS is deactivated and limiting reporting obligations to facilities-based providers.

The new rules also direct the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau to improve the ability of filers to voluntarily submit geographic information about service areas and the locations of facilities that are out of service. The update also establishes mandatory DIRS reporting for public safety voice and broadband network operators on the status of public safety network infrastructure and public safety customer impact.

Questions? Contact TAB's Michael Schneider or call (512) 322-9944.