As questions mount over warning systems during the deadly Texas flooding, Channel 9 learned that sirens intended to save lives in the North Carolina mountains failed to work during Helene

Sirens along Wilson Creek in Caldwell County are supposed to go off during flash flooding emergencies.

Channel 9’s Dave Faherty explains what went wrong during Helene and the efforts to keep visitors safe going forward.

Caldwell County Emergency Services officials said there was so much damage from Helene that the five warning sirens along Wilson Creek didn’t work

The power also went out the night before the flooding happened but now the new system has backup lithium batteries.

Jeremy Wallace showed Faherty the flash flooding siren at Brown Mountain Beach Resort.

Helene hit in September 2024 and the water rose around homes, but the siren was silent as Wallace and his mother-in law clung to a tree during the flooding.

“The warning system that was in place didn’t work although it was pretty obvious we had substantial flooding,” Wallace said. “It would have sounded, I’m sure. Since then, they’ve put in a new system.”

Miles away in Mortimer, the flash flooding from the creek caused the water to rise around Betsy’s General Store. The siren, a hundred yards away, never went off because the power went out before the flooding hit.

“No sirens went off, none whatsoever,” said resident Kim Pyatte. “We had no warnings. Honestly, we could have all died up here without those warnings.”

Caldwell County got money this year from FEMA to place new warning sirens and equipment up and down Wilson Creek. Much of the area remains off limits this summer because of damage from the storm, but the county says when visitors return next year, the equipment will activate when the National Weather Service issues a flash flood warning.

The cost was $181,000.

“We don’t do it for watches but when a flood warning is activated from the National Weather Service for that area and the northern Caldwell mountains, Wilson Creek area, we will sound the sirens,” said Trevor Key, Caldwell Emergency Services director.

The new warning sirens are loud enough that even though they’re spread out, they can be heard in a five-mile area around each of the towers on the creek.