El Paso ISD Restores Systems After Nationwide Cloud Outage as County Flooding Recovery Advances and UTEP Hits Record $73M in Gifts

El Paso Independent School District Restores Classroom Portals After Cloud Outage

EL PASO, Texas — The El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) successfully restored its core digital learning environments, grading portals, and internal administrative networks on Thursday, November 12, 2026, following a widespread nationwide service interruption that struck Microsoft enterprise cloud applications. The technological disruption temporarily affected school operations across West Texas, requiring campus administrators to utilize offline attendance protocols and analog classroom communication for several hours.

District technical specialists confirmed that cybersecurity systems remained fully uncompromised throughout the incident and that normal campus connectivity was established prior to afternoon dismissal.

El Paso County Coordinates Ongoing Storm Recovery and Seeks Federal Relief

In regional emergency management, El Paso County Commissioners and municipal administrators in Horizon City advanced recovery operations following severe torrential autumn storms that inundated low-lying neighborhoods and damaged drainage infrastructure across the desert valley. Active state disaster declarations remain in place as county emergency managers finalize structural damage assessments to support an application for Small Business Administration (SBA) low-interest physical disaster loans for affected homeowners and local businesses.

County road crews continue reinforcing retaining walls and clearing accumulated sediment from retention basins to ensure stormwater runoff can flow freely during seasonal weather fronts.

University of Texas at El Paso Secures Historic $73 Million in Philanthropic Support

At the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), President Heather Wilson announced on Thursday that the university achieved a historic fundraising total of $73 million for the 2025–26 fiscal cycle, marking the highest annual philanthropic total in the institution’s history. Supported by more than 6,700 individual alumni, foundations, and corporate benefactors, the donations will establish endowed STEM research chairs, expand student scholarship programs, and upgrade cross-border community health research centers across the Sun City.