Why some people in Hurricane Helene’s path didn’t receive emergency warnings

Zoe Dadian’s front yard became a front line when the remains of Hurricane Helene caused catastrophic flooding in her community of Swannanoa, North Carolina.

“It’s like a horror show, just standing on solid ground while full houses float by with people on them, like they’re screaming for their lives,” Dadian said.

As the water receded, neighbors started talking about the warnings that preceded it.

Severe weather warnings and warnings are issued by the National Weather Service, but evacuation orders come from local authorities.

Many use the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), which sends messages to cellphones, TVs and radios in disaster-affected areas.

Buncombe County, where Dadian lives, sent a mandatory evacuation order via IPAWS at 6:15 a.m. on September 27.

She said the alert didn’t appear on her phone until hours later, at 1 p.m

“And at that moment the landslide had happened,” Dadian said. “We were digging bodies out of the rubble, but there was nowhere to evacuate.”

Buncombe County officials said many cell towers were down because of the flooding, which may have delayed the evacuation order being sent.

“The cell towers are a critical component,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said of the challenge of providing timely warnings during flash flooding.

“We need to continue to learn how to better warn people, even if we don’t know exactly where the flash flooding will occur,” Criswell said.

While downed cell towers may have stopped or delayed the alerts from reaching everyone, some counties certified to issue IPAWS alerts did not send out any alerts, according to a CBS News analysis of available FEMA data. Of the 43 provinces where deaths occurred during Helene, 29 did not send out warnings via IPAWS.

Brian Toolan, Connecticut’s former chief of emergency operations who now builds local alert software, said a county, especially small counties, can quickly become overwhelmed.

“The timelines are going to be critical in understanding whether there was enough time to send out an alert, you know, was there enough time to prepare, you know, and if not, how can we learn from this and make sure this happens? doesn’t it happen anymore?” he said.

CBS News also reviewed FEMA data during Hurricane Milton. This week, at least 46 warnings have been issued by 14 counties across Florida, including those along the West Coast where the storm made landfall and conditions were most dangerous. At least 25 warned residents of evacuations.

When counties send out critical alerts, phones should be set up to receive them.

If emergency notifications from the government are disabled, people will not receive alerts sent via IPAWS. When notifications are enabled, people will receive IPAWS alerts.

Some provinces do not only use IPAWS. They have their own warning systems that people have to sign up for. People will only receive these alerts if they have signed up in advance.

Notifications were turned on on Dadian’s phone, but she wished she had known sooner what was going to happen to her community.

“Never in a million years,” Dadian said, “could I have imagined that this would be something we couldn’t endure.”