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After-action review finds strong response to unannounced heavy-rain event, flags sheltering and drainage gaps
Summary
Brunswick County emergency management presented an after-action review of a Sept. 2024 heavy-rain event, saying local response and coordination worked but shortfalls in shelter capacity, drainage maintenance and public awareness will require funding and interagency work.
Brunswick County emergency management delivered an after-action report on a rapidly developing, unnamed heavy-rain event that struck the county on Sept. 16, 2024, saying county response was well coordinated but that flood risk, sheltering and drainage maintenance remain serious vulnerabilities.
Emergency Management Director David McIntyre told the Board of Commissioners that the system, locally tracked as PTC 8, "was not classified as a tropical storm or hurricane" but produced rainfall and flash flooding comparable in places to past major storms. He said the county activated its emergency operations center quickly and sustained staffing through the week of the event.
The report summarized what the task force found and why it matters. "We had a well coordinated initial response," McIntyre said, but he listed recurring problems: inadequate shelter capacity for large-scale evacuations, inconsistent emergency notifications across platforms, debris blockages outside rights-of-way, and limited county authority over some drainage channels.
Why it matters: county officials said those shortcomings increase risk as development and population growth put more people and property in flood-prone areas. The after-action team recommended immediate, short-term and long-term steps—ranging from improved messaging templates to building hardened multipurpose shelters and pursuing funding for additional rescue craft and floodplain studies.
Key findings and recommendations
- Communications and public information: Surveys and incident logs showed heavy public engagement but mixed awareness of county systems. McIntyre said about 60% of respondents were registered for the county's Everbridge/Ready Brunswick notifications but many were unaware of how to use them. He urged standardized, pre-scripted messages and more work with local media and municipal public information officers.
- Sheltering: The county's existing hardened shelter capacity is limited; McIntyre said current shelters could reliably accommodate about 0.7% of the county population for risk-rated sheltering. The report recommends tabletop exercises for shelter activation, development of supply "pods" (pre-staged shelter trailers) and consideration of multipurpose park facilities that could double as hardened shelters and polling places.
- Drainage and right-of-way maintenance: The task force identified blocked culverts and streams outside the county's maintenance authority as drivers of flash flooding. Commissioners and staff discussed forming a multi-agency task force that includes DOT, stormwater engineering and soil-and-water staff to prioritize targeted ditch clearing and culvert resizing.
- Assets and modeling: McIntyre said the county had to request additional high-water vehicles and suggested expanding shallow-draft craft and airboats for access into tidal and marshy areas. He also said better hydrologic modeling and a Brunswick-specific floodplain study would improve preparedness.
Public survey results
The after-action team surveyed residents to inform its recommendations. McIntyre reported roughly 1,470 people were contacted and 470 responses returned. Of those responders, the report flagged these highlights: 94% identified as full-time residents; 47% ranked the event among their top three worst tropical-type events; 90% experienced some life disruption; 35% reported property damage (mostly flooding); and only 29% carried flood insurance.
Board response and next steps
Commissioners asked the emergency management office to continue work on the short-term action items already underway: expanding Ready Brunswick enrollment efforts, updating the county's evacuation zone mapping to include inland freshwater flood zones, and improving WebEOC procedures and training for partner agencies. Several commissioners urged pursuing state and federal mitigation funds to retrofit facilities and buy rescue assets.
McIntyre closed by noting coordination with the National Weather Service led to updated rainfall-forecast modeling that now provides both a most-likely and a plausible worst-case rainfall estimate, a change county staff said will improve future planning. The board directed staff to return with more detailed cost estimates and an outline of funding avenues for the short- and long-term recommendations.
