GATLINBURG, Tenn. — County officials in Gatlinburg are contradicting claims made by state officials that a text alert regarding wildfire evacuations were never sent.
Sevier County officials stated during a news conference Friday that they sent the evacuation notice via text, radio and TV, reported the Knoxville News Sentinel.
“If people did not receive the message we sent out, of course we are unsatisfied with it,” John Mathews, Sevier County Emergency Management director, said.
Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman Dean Flener stated evacuation orders were sent out only through radio and TV outlets Monday around 9 p.m. TEMA also stated that a text asking the public to stay off their phones was sent around 10:40 p.m. Monday.
“You cannot just tell them [to evacuate]. You have to tell them what to do,” Flener said. “People will panic more and you will get people in dangerous situations because you have not told them more.”
Flener said the alert system did not actually send out an evacuation notice, because the text messages are limited to only 90 characters.
The city of Gatlinburg’s Twitter feed announced mandatory evacuations for five areas at 8:17 p.m. Another tweet was posted at 9:12 p.m., adding downtown Gatlinburg and other areas to the list.
Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters stated that an investigation over the alerts would be conducted.
“What we’re getting into is folk’s who don’t know this area and are Monday morning quarterbacking,” Waters said. “Once we’re on the recovery road … we will sit down and evaluate what went on and how it can be improved. You can always improve the system we have.”
One Gatlinburg visitor, Ed Carnes, said he got an initial text Monday night after he and his wife were stranded in a line of cars blocked by a fallen tree. He said the text told people in the area to stay off the internet. A second alert was then sent with a similar warning, asking people to limit 911 calls.