Delaware Emergency Management Agency looks back on deadly Sussex County tornado 1 year later

SMYRNA, Del. - People living in areas impacted by the deadly EF-3 tornado on April 1, 2023, expressed frustration and said they felt ignored by the government agencies that promised help. One year later, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency reflects back on the disaster response.

DEMA says it didn't have the resources to help with debris on private property unless it was blocking a road. This was in part because last year's tornado was not a federally declared disaster, which means federal funding and resources were not available here.

DEMA Director and Homeland Security Advisor A.J. Schall says 36 out of 152 affected households received assistance, or just over 23 percent of applicants. Most of those families requested personal property debris removal.

"People are upset and frustrated with the government," Schall told CoastTV News on the tornado's anniversary. "They felt like they weren't helped and I think we had to look at what could we do, so we could help some individuals with lodging. We helped coordinate food, some immediate needs that are needs for people, [which is] where our initial responsibility kind of is."

Concerns were also raised after people didn't receive an emergency alert about the tornado in time, and some didn't receive one at all. Schall says that was due to a server issue with the National Weather Service, and another DEMA spokesman elaborated that it had to do with synchronization at the time of an alert. This is similar to a computer rebooting when you're already running late for an online meeting.

"We'll take the responsibility," Schall says. "I'm not going to pawn it off on somebody else. We're partners with [the National Weather Service]. It was an issue that was unfortunate. I don't think it was deliberate or negligent in any way."

Schall stresses the importance individuals helping themselves stay informed during bouts of severe weather by signing up for different types of emergency alerts through various apps. Download the CoastTV First Alert weather app to get notified when a tornado has been seen or tracked on radar near you.

"There's no explanation or excuse for why it didn't go off, but we want to make sure that people know there are other ways to get warnings as well," Schall said.

Schall says volunteers worked three days a week for six weeks and held over 20 events to help the communities impacted by the tornado. The Delaware Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster held over 50 individual cleanup events in addition to the volunteer events. He says DEMA paid for one person to stay in a hotel for 259 nights and another for 83 nights.

CoastTV News reached out to the National Weather Service, which couldn't be reached for comment.