Mason Edwards – Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn.
Emergency call ring times to Hamilton County 911’s center lasted more than five times longer than usual the night of Chattanooga’s historic Aug. 12 floods, according to officials.
From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., dispatchers answered hundreds of calls for help from trapped families and stranded drivers. Not a single 911 call went unanswered, Executive Director Jeff Carney said by phone, but the surge stretched the center beyond normal limits. While an artificial intelligence operator helped mitigate the surge, Carney said, no agency can properly prepare for a disaster like Aug. 12…