Cell phone service takes a big hit in hurricane states

Kimball said that no estimates are yet available for the number of cell phone systems and customers affected by the outages throughout the Southeast. Officials also do not know when repairs can begin, he said. "It's really too early to tell," Kimball said.

Verizon is mobilizing and staging repair crews outside of the disaster areas and will begin moving them in when floodwaters subside and when police and fire officials advise them that the areas are safe to enter, he said.

So far, crews are beginning to go to work in areas less damaged by the monstrous storm, including Baton Rouge, La., Pensacola, Fla., and Mobile, Ala., Kimball said. "I would say that recovery will come first to the areas that were less affected," he said. "We've got a lot of people working on the problems."

Verizon has workers, including network technicians and operations personnel, coming in from surrounding regions. It is also moving in extra generators and self-powered mobile cell phone sites called Cells on Wheels, or COWs, that allow the company to supplement its network with portable equipment to get systems running again.

When Verizon workers can't use cell phones to communicate, they must rely on satellite-based phones, Kimball said. "We use whatever means necessary," he noted.