El Pasoans weigh in on how internet outage impacted them

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Pasoans reacted to Spectrum's internet outage that impacted thousands across the city Saturday, saying the interruption affected them in different ways.

"When I woke up, I couldn't even access the Internet. I didn't have any cable at all. It was all kaput," said Ivy Buehler, a Spectrum customer.

Many El Pasoans woke up to the same problem Saturday morning, and wouldn't have it back for hours. Some told ABC-7 they were grateful it at least happened on a weekend. But for others, the weekend is when they need internet access the most.

"I depend a lot on my social media, on my messages," said Nancy Lugo, the owner of Cupcake Couture. "If I don't have access to go through my messages, I feel like my customers are being ignored, or I feel like my customers aren't getting their messages on time."

Lugo said she was thankful the outage only lasted a few hours, but it did impact some of her services while the internet was down. She said she doubted herself at first, thinking she might not have paid her bill, but was sure she did.

"I'm sure a lot of other people felt that, because it was nerve-wracking," she said.

A man named Isaac, who didn't want to share his last name, agrees with Lugo. Although the outage happened on his day off from work, he said sometimes, that's when he needs it most.

"My wife, for example, she was up at home in Pennsylvania, and I couldn't Facetime her or anything, because I hadn't lived with her for so long, and trying to get a hold of her -- I had to do just a regular phone call, which isn't a problem, but I like to see her face. And I couldn't do that because of my services.

An official from Spectrum did confirm that the internet access is back on for all affected customers. They told ABC-7 that the outage was caused by a damaged fiber optic line.

For more information about what to do if you experience an outage as a Spectrum customer, click here.