Resiliency by Design: NG911 and North Carolina’s 911 Response During Hurricane Helene and Beyond

Think about the images you saw in September 2024 of washed-out roads, downed power lines, and destroyed homes across western North Carolina courtesy of Hurricane Helene. This destruction greatly impacted the critical infrastructure for 9-1-1 centers across the region, but even under these conditions, citizens continued to reach 9-1-1. Come learn how the State’s Next Generation 911 (NG911) ecosystem performed under real-world catastrophic stress and how this experience inspired and continues to strengthen statewide continuity. Presenters will detail the performance of the ESInet, hosted call handling, and the statewide GIS data set, as well as highlight the North Carolina 911 Board’s additional resiliency assets (e.g., 911 call data interoperability platform, ePTT radios). Attendees will gain insight into the Board’s pre event planning, the routing partnerships that enabled seamless support when public safety answering points went offline or exceeded capacity, and the lessons learned as the resiliency strategy met on the ground reality.