By Amanda Gabeletto
HOLLIDAYSBURG - Until Wednesday, some area businesses in the Hollidaysburg Plaza had been without Verizon Internet service since Superstorm Sandy blew through the region in late October.
Travel agent Karen Strayer of Ketrow Travel Agency said she didn't believe it hurt business, but it did lessen workers efficiency and throw them back to the days of doing things manually, which fortunately was not foreign to the agents.
Much of Ketrow's business is conducted online, and employees could not access an airline computer system, she said.
The agency's clientele was understanding, she said.
Mike's Carpet One Floor and Home owner Mike Glunt said it was an inconvenience, and employees conducted business over the phone.
"More than you want to," he said of depending on the Internet.
The business gets updates on pricing and specials and conducts seminars through the Internet.
Verizon spokesman Lee Gierczynski said the outage was because of facility damage from the storm between Altoona and State College and due to a loss of network connection for DSL, including in New York.
Service was restored Wednesday, he said. He did not know at presstime how many businesses were affected by the outage.
