If your phone suddenly flipped to “SOS” in Alabama on Wednesday, you weren’t alone.

A widespread Verizon wireless outage disrupted calls, texts, and data for customers across the country, with Alabama included among states where users reported problems.

Outage reports began climbing around 11:00 a.m. Alabama time, with many customers saying their phones showed “SOS” or “no signal” messages.

On outage-tracking site Downdetector, reports surged into the hundreds of thousands at peak.

Verizon acknowledged an issue impacting wireless voice and data and said engineering teams were working to resolve it.

By mid-afternoon, at least some customers reported service returning, but Verizon said crews were still working on remaining disruptions.

What to do if you’re still stuck in “SOS”

• Turn on Wi-Fi calling (if it’s set up) and use Wi-Fi for calls/texts where possible.

• Try restarting your phone and toggling Airplane Mode on/off (simple, but sometimes forces a clean network handshake).

• If you need help urgently and calls won’t go through: use a landline, borrow a phone on another carrier, or go in person to a nearby police/fire station.

• If you have a newer iPhone and you’re in an area without any cell service, you may have satellite-based emergency options depending on device/support and conditions.

The FCC said it would investigate the incident.