Sarah Hammond had no idea a tornado warning had been issued for her Bridgeville community on the afternoon of April 1.
She was outside looking at the clouds just moments before an EF3 tornado hit her home on Precious Lane.
“I had been taught to look for a funnel, so I had no idea this pretty, fluffy cloud was going to become a tornado,” she said. “If I had had a warning, I would’ve been in the house, not standing next to a pine tree.”
A technical glitch in the National Weather Service alert system prevented mobile phone alerts from being sent to “portions of northern Sussex and far southern Kent” where the tornado cut a 14.3-mile path of destruction, killing one resident. Alerts were broadcast on radio and TV.
Fortunately for Hammond, she returned indoors and almost immediately heard the freight train sound. She and her 79-year-old mother took shelter in a bathtub. Their home was one of the first hit by the tornado.
When the two women emerged, they found Hammond’s bedroom had been ripped off the front of the house, along with other damage that left the house unlivable. No one was at home next door at Hammond’s sister house, which was completely destroyed, she said.
Why mobile alerts weren’t received
As victims of the April 1 tornado in Sussex County continue to grieve and rebuild, the National Weather Service said this week they determined why cell phone emergency alerts failed in their area.
According to spokesperson Maureen O’Leary, a “time synchronization script” was running on two computer servers at the time the tornado warning was issued. It prevented wireless emergency alerts from being broadcast to cell phones in the area hit by the tornado.
When systems are operating properly, wireless emergency alerts are automatically broadcast via cell towers and sent to cellphones in the area of an emergency, the National Weather Service website says.
Since the April 1 failure, “all wireless emergency alerts have been broadcast,” O’Leary said. “Additional monitoring” is now in place and the National Weather Service is “in the process of further hardening the time servers.”
TORNADO PATH:Follow Sussex tornado’s 14.3-mile path on our map. Homes and lives wrecked in 20 minutes.
Delaware emergency officials say those alerts are vital.
“Emergency alerts need to reach their intended audiences. It’s as simple as that,” Delaware Emergency Management Agency spokesman John Peterson said. “We will continue working with NWS to make sure there are additional and redundant measures in place so this does not happen again.”
Both agencies urged people to follow them on social media for alerts.
Recovery continues for Sussex residents
About 120 individuals and families in the Bridgeville, Greenwood and Ellendale areas reported tornado damage, according to United Way of Delaware.
Daniel Bawel, 78, was killed when his home collapsed on Tuckers Road in Greenwood.
Friends and family attended his funeral at Greenwood Mennonite Church Apr. 14.
His obituary said he was “truly a man to be admired” and “will be remembered as a loving man who enjoyed the simple things in life; like having a cup of coffee with his friends, family breakfast at the local diner, and attending farm shows.”
Background:Weather officials detail path of Delaware’s strongest tornado in 60+ years, 140-mph winds
The morning after the tornado, volunteers from the Good Ole Boy Foundation, United Way, Sussex County Habitat for Humanity, other nonprofits and plenty of regular folks showed up to help victims clean up. Hammond said people from her church, The Life Center in Bridgeville, came to assist her with debris.
Since the tornado, Hammond, her mother and her sister have been living in a hotel, which so far has been paid for by friends, numerous nonprofits and the state, she said. She’s still waiting for a payout from her insurance company, she said.
Sussex:Funeral for Corey Mumford brings Laurel community together once more
The United Way’s “Care4Sussex” initiative saved tornado victims “over $300,000 in repair and clean-up services that they could otherwise not afford nor were able to acquire themselves.” They’re still making repairs and cleaning up. You can volunteer here.
Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on Sussex County and beyond. Reach her at smncaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught
