//The Wire//2100Z March 14, 2024//

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//BLUF: INTERNET OUTAGES REPORTED ALONG AFRICA’S WEST COAST.//

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-International Events-

Africa: This morning internet outages and disruptions were reported in several nations throughout the continent. Several internet service providers have stated that the reason for the outages is related to the failure of multiple undersea cables. AC: As submarine communications cables have been under increased scrutiny due to Houthi threats in the Red Sea, many are assuming impacts to cables are due to nefarious intent by Houthi forces. However, the cables impacted this time are not in the same area as before; most of the cables currently affected are part of the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable system, which lies along the western coast of Africa.

-HomeFront-

USA: Several states have issued messages of caution regarding the upcoming April 8th solar eclipse. Specifically, several states have warned locals to stock up on food and water in advance of large crowds of tourists looking to get the best view of the solar event.

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Analyst Comments: Some of the preparations and cautions for the upcoming eclipse are quite strange for what is essentially a large tourism event. For instance, several counties in Texas have already issued disaster declarations in preparation for this event. While millions of people flocking to small towns for the event will certainly overwhelm local resources, some have noted that the impacts are likely overstated. As most of the statements of calamity are originating from county-level disaster response agencies, this could be more of a funding allocation attempt rather than an apocalyptic event. As a reminder the last eclipse in 2017 occurred largely without incident, with the exception of hotels selling out of rooms, and large traffic delays.

Analyst: S2A1

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