When Hurricane Michael barreled into the Florida Panhandle last week, the Category 4 storm with sustained winds of 155 miles per hour not only tore down electrical wires knocking out power for hundreds of thousands residents, but it also ripped apart fiber networks necessary for delivering broadband and mobile phone service to the region.

Over the weekend, Verizon, the nation's largest wireless carrier, said that damage to its fiber optic network has greatly affected its efforts to get service restored in the hardest hit areas following the storm.

While service has been restored to 99 percent of customers in Georgia and 98 percent of affected customers in Florida, as of Monday morning, the areas around Panama City, Panama City Beach and the surrounding communities where the storm first came ashore are still without reliable cell service, according to Verizon spokeswoman Karen Schultz.

She explained that in some cases even after service is restored, it quickly goes out again. New fiber cuts arise as recovery workers begin clearing roads and removing debris from residential properties, and as electric poles get replaced.