CONYERS, Ga. — Rockdale County Emergency Management is working with Georgia Emergency Management to investigate why some residents may have not received a tornado warning on their phones Tuesday night.
It was just before midnight on April 2, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Rockdale County including Conyers.
The warning was Doppler-indicated, and within minutes, the EF-2 tornado was on the ground — jumping around for approximately 9.5 miles — leaving a path of destruction.
On Thursday evening, Rockdale Emergency Management said while they’re still assessing the damage, they believe they’ll have close to 100 structures that are either damaged or destroyed. 11Alive did ask if the county would be able to apply for federal aid, but it’s not believed the county will qualify for any such assistance. The Red Cross is assisting those impacted by the tornado.
RELATED: This is where EF-2 tornado damage occurred in Conyers | National Weather Service damage survey
While the cleanup continues, Rockdale EMA is reaching out to citizens to find out just how many may have not received Tuesday night’s warning on their phone.
The agency said they’ve already heard from a few residents who claim they weren’t notified by the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA).
“It’s automated, it’s not a button we push,” Rockdale County EMA Deputy Director Meredith Barnum explained.
WEA are sent out to targeted geographical areas when there is an emergency.
“It pings off cell phone towers, and it will send a message,” Barnum said.
According to the FCC, Wireless companies volunteer to participate in WEA, which is the result of a unique public/private partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the FCC, and the United States wireless industry in order to enhance public safety.
As to why some residents in the Rockdale County area might have not received an alert, Barnum said it’s hard to tell at this point.
“It could just be down to the individual user all the way up to a carrier or power grid system; it’s just going to take more investigating on our end with the state to figure out exactly what happened,” she explained.
For iPhone owners, one can check to make sure the Emergency Alerts notification is on by going to Settings. Then, inside Settings, click on Notifications. Scroll all the way down and make sure next to Emergency Alerts, it shows ‘On.”
Android owners can also find the status of their Emergency Alerts under the Settings icons and then by clicking on Notifications.
“It’s so important for situations like this, so important,” Barnum said.
She said that for those who want to ensure they never miss a warning, there’s always the old-school weather radio, which typically costs between $20 and $50. Barnum said to just make sure to always check the batteries before a storm approaches.
Rockdale Emergency Management is asking anyone who may not have received a tornado warning on Tuesday night in the county to email their carrier information and phone number to emasocialmedia@rockdalecountyga.gov.