Unsung communication heroes keeping Burke County connected amid crisis

BURKE COUNTY’s CHRIS WHITE

“You just have to think outside the box of these situations. Having interoperability plans and backup plans to backup plans is very important.” — Burke County 911 Assistant Director Chris White

Chris White played a dual role for Burke County during Hurricane Helene: Being Burke County’s 911 Assistant Director and acting as PIO (public information officer) by getting factual information to Burke residents. He also distributes information from FEMA through the county to the public and runs the Foothills Action Network, a local nonprofit weather network.

“It was very busy. There were lots of meetings to make sure that we had factual information,” White explained. “We really double, double-checked everything. If we thought we knew something, we were 100% clear on it. … It’s to put forth our best foot forward as a county to serve our citizens.”

Information was first pushed out through phone emergency alerts, but then they discovered a better solution — working with media partners. The county worked with radio and broadcast partners along with traditional media like newspapers.

Although we are in a world of advanced technology, White said that the County had to think outside the box since they could not rely on technology. People with generators were able to plug in their TVs or if they had an FM radio, to listen to their broadcasting.

“Being able to give that information and think outside the box is where I think my expertise comes in, because we nailed it with that, I would say, because we got a lot of feedback; saying that if it wouldn’t have been for those messages on the radio they would have never known,” White said.

The Burke County 911 Center had Starlink satellites, enabling him to communicate with others and issue media releases throughout the storm. The County worked with the State Emergency Support Function, a branch of N.C. emergency management for communications.

A major obstacle White encountered was the tremendous misinformation about FEMA operations and other fake news and rumors spread by social media once cell towers were operational.

This experience taught White to start using broadcast media first instead of cell phone lines. “There’s always capability out there with broadcast infrastructure that can help us to overcome those communication gaps,” White said.

MORGANTON’S JONELLE SIGMON

“After going through a crisis like this, I have never been more proud to call Morganton my home.” — City of Morganton’s PIO Jonelle Sigmon

Sigmon, who grew up in Morganton, sees the hurricane as a trying time, but despite the disaster, it brought out the togetherness of the community.

Sigmon has been the City’s PIO since December 2022 and distributes information for and to different departments within the governmental body. Along with that, she is the main hub for information for residents and media.

Her principal roles during the storm were to disperse and collect emergency information from department heads, capture the damages through video and photos, and support the City’s departments and community.

“It was a roller coaster of emotions,” Sigmon said. “That is the easiest way to explain it. From digesting all the information from each City department and making it understandable to the general public, to seeing the devastation to homes and businesses, but being uplifted at how the community came together to support each other.”

Amidst the storm, she created a makeshift office at the water/electric department, so she was always near the direct source of information that the community needed. She was stationed there when the power was out at City Hall. A backup generator powered the two utility departments.

At the county level, she made new friends who can help in future emergencies. She was tuned into their press releases shared on social media and their website which was included in the City’s updates for residents.

Into the late nights and early mornings, Sigmon consistently pushed out information during the storm and the days following.

When asked about lessons learned, Sigmon agreed with White that there are ways that they can change their approach to crisis communications.

“I think that we need to assess how communication was handled internally and externally and see what improvements can be made. This was an unprecedented weather event where we all experienced things we never thought we would have to go through,” Sigmon said. “I have been amazed at how communities, not only in Morganton but across the western half of North Carolina, have pulled together and been the backbone for those who have lost everything.”

Witnessing the efforts of local businesses, linemen, and grassroots donation drives, she has seen the “determination, grit, and perseverance from those who were hit the hardest.”

BCPS CHERYL SHUFFLER

“You think about our school system. Our 26 campuses. We’ve got 1,400 to 1,500 employees, 12,000 students. It’s almost like running a small city, if you will.” — Burke County Public Schools Public Relations Officer Cheryl Shuffler

Through the storm, the Burke County Public Schools (BCPS) leadership team continuously monitored the situation and gauged how one another was. Shuffler is on the team.

“The first text went out about noon on Friday the 27th, in the middle of the storm, just gauging how everybody was doing,” Shuffler said. “Of course, we all lost power. A lot of us had trees down on our property. We have two central office staff members who live along Creekside. … We were immediately able to just find out how they were doing and just get kind of a check-in to make sure that everybody was accounted for.”

Shuffler’s home had a generator and was equipped with Starlink, so she still had access to the school district’s social channels. The school system had tried to talk with their families days in advance and throughout the storm, since many families had left the area.

They also created a resource page on their website, shared information on their socials, and sent out alerts through their school notifications app.

To better measure the storm’s impacts on staff and students’ families, BCPS created a needs assessment survey through Google Forms.

“We did have some students whose houses were flooded, and one of our first priorities was to kind of account for all of our staff members and our students,” Shuffler said. “Getting those responses back, our principals and our counselors were able to review those. In most cases, our staff already knew if a student was adversely affected if they lost everything with the flood.”

A community supply drive helping those impacted had a very overwhelming response, she said.

Shuffler added a situation like Helene makes you think more about plans B, C, and D — in case plan A falls through.

COMMUNITY AFFAIRS IN VALDESE

“When it comes down to it, our community truly shows up. We saw neighbors helping neighbors … During the worst times that we can experience, whether it be natural disasters or whatever else, the best of humanity comes forward.” — Assistant Director Annie South

The Community Affairs & Tourism staff, Director Morrissa Angi and Assistant Director Annie South, manned the communication efforts in small town Valdese.

The duo disseminated information from public works, public safety, and county officials through Valdese’s CodeRED community notification system. While South stayed at her home with decent service, Angi drove to Icard and other cell service points. The Town of Valdese staff regularly collaborated and brainstormed the next steps.

A major challenge to their communication efforts was power and cell service outages. Not everyone would receive the valuable information they released.

“We could just easily post on Facebook or do a website update or whatever. That wasn’t the case. We never knew if information was getting out. Just the lack of overall service, and then not knowing that people had the power to charge their phones,” South explained. “We just did our best to get the information out there to everyone, and hope for the best and that word of mouth traveled as well.”

South said the biggest insight gained was how the Valdese community is there for one another — from neighbor to neighbor to the community as a whole. She extended thanks to the different crews and Town employees who worked above and beyond behind the scenes.