Atlanta Press Releases category interest

This story has been updated.

Update as of about 4:45 p.m.: Most DeKalb County online systems have been restored after being impacted by the global CrowdStrike outage, the county announced in a press release around 2:15 p.m.

Access to the customer utility bill payment system, permitting system and court systems have been restored. The county’s E911 Department can receive and dispatch calls. Vendors are still working to restore access to systems at the DeKalb County UGA Extension Service.

The state’s DRIVES system is also still down, so the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office cannot process motor vehicle transactions. The outage has also impacted the office’s property tax system, as well, which is managed by a vendor.

Atlanta News First reported earlier today that the outage impacted healthcare entities in Atlanta.

– Wellstar’s systems were affected and are coming back online. They said patients who have a procedure scheduled for Friday should contact their facility.

– All of Emory Healthcare’s hospitals and clinics are open, but the outage has caused some disruptions. All procedures at Emory’s ambulatory surgery centers and hospitals have been delayed, and patients should use MyChart to manage their appointments.

– Grady Memorial Hospital had not been significantly impacted by the outage.

Update as of about 1:30 p.m.: As of about 12:20 p.m. DeKalb County residents were able to access the utility bill payment system again. The county is still experiencing some system outages. Here is the full press release from DeKalb:

DeKalb County is experiencing issues with some of its computer devices due to the CrowdStrike outage affecting the nation.

The county’s Department of Innovation and Technology is in the process of implementing the necessary fix throughout the county.

The following systems, which are managed by vendors, are currently down:

– Permitting system

– Court systems

– DeKalb County UGA Extension Service systems

Access to the customer utility bill payment system has been restored.

These vendors are diligently working to restore access to these systems.

The county’s E911 Department can receive and dispatch calls.

More information will be provided as it becomes available.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens also said on Twitter around 11 a.m. that city operations and systems have been mostly unaffected by the Microsoft outage and that some flights were resuming at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Here is our earlier story:

DeKalb County, GA — DeKalb County and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority are experiencing technology issues this morning, July 19, as Microsoft software is down globally.

A global technology outage occurred on Friday due to an update issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The faulty software update is impacting computers running Microsoft Windows. The outage has grounded flights, knocked banks offline and media outlets off the air. CrowdStrike said the issue was not a security incident or cyberattack, and it is working to fix the problem, according to the Associated Press.

The issue has hit DeKalb County. The county is experiencing issues with some of its computer devices.

According to a press release, the county’s Department of Innovation and Technology is in the process of implementing the necessary fix throughout the county.

The following systems, which are managed by vendors, are currently down:

– Utility bill payment system

– Permitting system

– Court systems

These vendors are diligently working to restore access to these systems. The county’s E911 Department can receive and dispatch calls.

MARTA is also directing riders to look at social media and the service alert system for real-time updates, as its apps and website are experiencing issues as well.

“Due to the global Microsoft technology outage, MARTA’s website, real-time service information, Breeze Mobile app, and online fare purchases are unavailable,” a spokesperson for MARTA said. “Bus, rail, and streetcar services are operating normally.”

Some metro Atlanta cities have reported issues with their email and phone system. The city of Dunwoody is unable to process, business licenses, court payments and other payments due to the outage. ChatComm 911 is still able to take and dispatch calls.

The email and phone systems are down in the city of Roswell, but the city’s 911 center is operational.

City officials in Avondale Estates and Decatur said the cities are not experiencing issues. No other DeKalb County cities have reported service disruptions.

Our media partners at Atlanta News First reported that the Georgia Department of Driver Services said its services are unavailable. Customers cannot pay fees, look up their license status, access their driving report history and more.

The Georgia Department of Revenue’s Georgia Tax Center and DRIVES applications are also down. The online DRIVES system addresses tag renewals, title status changes, vehicle registrations, insurance fines and other services, according to ANF. This is impacting the local county offices as well.

ANF also reported that the Federal Aviation Administration has grounded flights from several major airlines due to the outage, which has impacted airlines including United, Allegiant, Delta and American Airlines. As of about 10 a.m. on Friday, 492 flights were delayed and 259 flights were canceled at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

The United States Department of Homeland Security said on Twitter/X that “the department and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are working with CrowdStrike, Microsoft and our federal, state, local and critical infrastructure partners to fully assess and address system outages.”

This is a developing story, and it will be updated as more information becomes available.