The widespread CrowdStrike Microsoft outage that has been disrupting flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world on Friday is also having an impact on operations in Monroe County.

During a news conference Friday morning, County Executive Adam Bello said he was notified around 3:30 a.m. that a global software update by CrowdStrike that caused thousands of computers handling operations in the county to crash. Bello says around 4 a.m. he activated the county's Emergency Operations Center to help coordinate the response to the situation and understand what the impact on services in the county would be.

Around 3,500 county devices were affected, including emergency communications and almost all county operations. However, many critical infrastructure systems, such as water, sewer and traffic systems were not affected. Many public-facing systems did unfortunately lack connections to their servers because of the outage.

County officials say they are working on the issue and say an automated fix that is designed to communicate with the affected devices has already been implemented. Unfortunately, Bello says this is a very long process that could take several days to reach all of those devices. A manual fix is also underway that involves county IT personnel accessing devices directly to fix the problem.

According to Bello, the priority is the systems at the county 911 center. Currently, 911 and emergency communications are operating through backup systems. Anyone who calls 911 and is not immediately answered should not hang up, the county says. Calls will be answered in the order they are received.

The Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport is open, officials say; however, anyone heading to the airport is advised to check their flights for cancelations or delays.

County essential employees are asked to report to work, and any county employees who can work from home are asked to do so.

The following county facilities are closed to the public on Friday:

  • The County Office Building
  • The County Clerk’s Office
  • All Department of Motor Vehicles branches
  • Department of Human Services, 111 Westfall Road
  • Department of Public Health public-facing operations, including Vital Records and all health clinics
  • Anyone requiring assistance or emergency housing can call DHS at 585-442-1742

The following county functions are operating:

  • The Monroe County Court System, all jurors should report
  • Seneca Park Zoo
  • County Parks
  • Department of Transportation
  • Medical Examiner’s Office
  • Department of Environmental Services
  • Probation
  • Monroe Community Hospital

The county says it will provide more information as it becomes available.

Meanwhile, officials with the city of Rochester say the city has been impacted by the global outage, but most systems remain functional and most offices remain open. 

In a statement, the city said:

"The City’s Information Technology Department has been working since the early hours of the morning to fix key systems, including email, camera systems, mapping, and dispatch systems. 

"All public safety systems, including Police and Fire, are fully functional and are utilizing backup systems for some tasks. Refuse and recycling pickup and water systems are fully functional. Payment windows at City Hall are open, and the City Clerk’s office will be open but some services may be delayed. 

"The City’s parking, traffic violations, and building/zoning permit offices rely on external technology systems that have been impacted by the outage, so those offices will be closed today. 

"Currently, the City’s 311 system is not working, so people are encouraged to use the 311Live online service platform on the City’s website. 

City employees have reported to work. Some employee workstations may be affected, and IT staff is prioritizing to apply fixes to individual computers. It may take some time for all systems to recover, and the City asks for patience as it addresses all outages."

CrowdStrike, the company linked to software update that caused the Microsoft outage, is a cybersecurity firm based in Austin, Texas. Its CEO says the company has identified the issue and deployed a fix. He also says the outage was not a cyberattack or security incident.