Heavy rains can lead to false 911 calls: Winnipeg police

With all the heavy rainfall hitting Winnipeg this week, slippery streets and dangerous driving conditions are well-documented hazards, but Winnipeg Police say false 9-11 calls can result from inclement weather.

According to the Winnipeg Police Service (WPS), water can get into the wiring for landlines and cause frequent 911 calls, even if the homeowner hasn’t picked up the phone. Police note these issues generally happen with old telephone infrastructure and copper lines.

The WPS explained that for landline phones, police call takers will try to call back the phone number to determine if a response is required. If they make contact and there is no indication of an emergency, then no units are sent out.

The WPS noted that these false 911 calls take time for call takers to process, which can impact the communication centre’s ability to take emergency calls.

It added that it also has an impact on frontline officers, as units need to be sent out if there is no answer when they call back or there is any indication of an emergency.

In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson for Bell MTS said copper cables are more vulnerable to extreme precipitation.

"When copper cables are exposed to water, it can lead to corrosion and degrade the quality of the network over time. In Manitoba, we've been steadily transitioning from our legacy copper network to fibre networks, which are more resilient to extreme weather conditions, reducing the frequency and length of weather-related service issues and outages," the spokesperson said.