RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — When Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina , 911 dispatchers in Raleigh stepped up to help take calls. Two of those dispatchers spoke to CBS17 about their experience.
Call after call flooded the Raleigh-Wake 911 center when Helene first hit the state as some emergency calls were routed through central North Carolina.
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“We went back to back to back to back,” dispatcher Katheryn Hartsell said. “Anybody who was able to answer a phone and knew how to answer a phone was answering the phone that day.”
Hartsell, who has been a dispatcher for three years, said dispatchers are trained to stay calm in these situations, but this was not a normal day.
“There’s a different sense when you’re answering the phone repetitively and you know every call is a crisis call that’s coming in,” said Hartsell, who noted she spent hours fielding calls from people stuck in cars and houses. “The sense of urgency and the desperation in the call is very different. It’s a very intense time.”