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Alert Pulse · Monthly report · September 2026

Floods displaced Texans and New Mexicans as tornadoes damaged western New York

September flooding brought boat rescues, evacuations and disrupted care in Texas and New Mexico. In western New York, tornado surveys documented damaged homes, trees and a park pavilion.

SEP 4 · 1,412SEP 1SEP 30DISTINCT WARNINGS PER DAY132

September 2026 · 24,439 warningsAugust 2026 · 37,931 warnings−33% per day vs August 2026Each story below, on the day it peaked

  • Flash flooding · Sep 28–30

    the Southwest

    3 flash flood emergencies were declared

  • Flash flooding · Sep 22–26

    New Mexico and Texas

    4 flash flood emergencies were declared

  • Flash flooding · Sep 2–3

    Texas

    2 flash flood emergencies were declared

  • Flash flooding · Sep 20–22

    the Ohio Valley

    Meigs County spent 4 days under warning

  • Tornadoes and severe storms · Sep 2–3

    the Mid-Atlantic

    2 tornadoes were seen on the ground

    Named in the warnings: Batavia, Albion, Le Roy

Warnings identified dangerous flooding and tornadoes, but residents still needed rescuers, shelter and help reaching essential care.

Read the month

Where the month happened

Each numbered area is one of the stories below, drawn over the counties its warnings covered.

Map of the United States. 1: Flash flooding in Texas, Sep 2–3. 2: Flash flooding in the Southwest, Sep 28–30. 3: Tornadoes and severe storms in the Mid-Atlantic, Sep 2–3.123
  • Flash flooding in Texas, Sep 2–3
  • Flash flooding in the Southwest, Sep 28–30
  • Tornadoes and severe storms in the Mid-Atlantic, Sep 2–3
Fig. 1. The counties each story covered, numbered as the report tells them. Colour groups the hazard: water, heat and fire, storms. Counties are the smallest area these warnings describe.
The same areas as a list
  • 1. Flash flooding in Texas, September 2 to 3 · Water · 21 counties drawn
  • 2. Flash flooding in the Southwest and Texas, September 28 to 30 · Water · 62 counties drawn
  • 3. Tornadoes and severe storms in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, September 2 to 3 · Storms · 167 counties drawn
Figure 02

When it happened

Each square is one day of the month, shaded by how many warnings went out.Shade is warnings that day. A number is the story it belongs to on the map. A ring marks a day on which news or officials reported what the event did to people.
SunMonTueWedThuFriSatSep 1: 661 warnings1Sep 2: 1,149 warnings · story 1, 3 on the map · documented impact on people21·3Sep 3: 1,308 warnings · story 1, 3 on the map · documented impact on people31·3Sep 4: 1,412 warnings4Sep 5: 1,103 warnings5Sep 6: 1,042 warnings6Sep 7: 913 warnings7Sep 8: 446 warnings8Sep 9: 605 warnings9Sep 10: 782 warnings10Sep 11: 714 warnings11Sep 12: 999 warnings12Sep 13: 745 warnings13Sep 14: 742 warnings14Sep 15: 807 warnings15Sep 16: 817 warnings16Sep 17: 694 warnings17Sep 18: 834 warnings18Sep 19: 1,069 warnings19Sep 20: 1,108 warnings20Sep 21: 1,292 warnings21Sep 22: 871 warnings22Sep 23: 611 warnings23Sep 24: 535 warnings24Sep 25: 595 warnings25Sep 26: 346 warnings26Sep 27: 370 warnings27Sep 28: 387 warnings · story 2 on the map · documented impact on people282Sep 29: 669 warnings · story 2 on the map · documented impact on people292Sep 30: 813 warnings · story 2 on the map · documented impact on people302
  • Fewer warnings
  • More warnings
  • Impact on people reported
View as a table
DayWarningsStory on the mapDocumented impact on people
Sep 1661——
Sep 21,1491, 3Yes
Sep 31,3081, 3Yes
Sep 41,412——
Sep 51,103——
Sep 61,042——
Sep 7913——
Sep 8446——
Sep 9605——
Sep 10782——
Sep 11714——
Sep 12999——
Sep 13745——
Sep 14742——
Sep 15807——
Sep 16817——
Sep 17694——
Sep 18834——
Sep 191,069——
Sep 201,108——
Sep 211,292——
Sep 22871——
Sep 23611——
Sep 24535——
Sep 25595——
Sep 26346——
Sep 27370——
Sep 283872Yes
Sep 296692Yes
Sep 308132Yes

1Floodwater forced Livingston residents out by boat

  1. SEP 1, 7 PM UTC

    First warning

    Jefferson County, Texas

  2. SEP 1, 7 PM UTC

    Considerable threat

    Jefferson County, Texas

  3. SEP 2, 10 AM UTC

    Catastrophic threat

    Hardin County, Texas

  4. SEP 2, 10 AM UTC

    Particularly dangerous

    Hardin County, Texas

  5. SEP 2, 10 AM UTC

    Emergency declared

    Hardin County, Texas

  6. SEP 2, 3 PM UTC

    County order

    Hardin County, Texas

  7. SEP 3, 1 AM UTC

    Catastrophic threat

    Hardin County, Texas

  8. SEP 3, 1 AM UTC

    Particularly dangerous

    Hardin County, Texas

  9. SEP 3, 1 AM UTC

    Emergency declared

    Hardin County, Texas

  10. SEP 11, 2 AM UTC

    Last warning

    Hardin County, Texas

Map of the area this edition covers. 1: Flash flooding in Texas, Sep 2–3.1
  • Flash flooding — coloured as water. 21 counties in Texas, Sep 2–3.

In Livingston on September 2, emergency crews rescued a woman and four children from a flooded mobile home, KPRC reported. Crews also reached a family trapped near North Washington Avenue and East C Street. Elsewhere in the town, waist-high water left residents unable to leave safely on their own, and some departed by boat.

The warnings had begun the previous afternoon in Jefferson County, part of the southeast Texas flooding shown as 1 on the map. By dawn on September 2, the weather service in Lake Charles had declared a flash flood emergency in Hardin County. Its headline read: "FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY FOR KOUNTZE, VILLAGE MILLS, HONEY ISLAND". Another emergency followed that evening in Hardin County as the flooding continued.

Archived alert · September 2026Sent September 2, 2026 · NWS Lake Charles LA
This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW! Life threatening flash flooding of low water crossings, small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses.

In Indian Springs that day, blocked roads meant responders could not always drive to stranded neighbors. The volunteer fire chief reported more than 20 completely impassable roads, according to KPRC. "We have had to walk in places like a mile to check on people at this point", Chief Lindsay Phillips told the station. Volunteers cleared debris, helped drivers and connected some elderly residents to portable oxygen tanks while electricity was unavailable.

In Hardin County on September 2, game wardens helped evacuate 21 people from a damaged assisted-living facility, Texas Parks and Wildlife told the Associated Press. KFDM reported roughly 13,000 structures and customers still without electricity in the county. The Texas Department of Transportation closed southbound highway lanes because water covered the roadway and told people to avoid the area. County emergency officials also urged residents to limit travel while crews cleared roads and restored power.

By September 3, roads remained closed in Polk, Liberty and Hardin counties, ABC13 reported. Livingston schools also remained closed because of flooding and continuing power outages, according to FOX 26 Houston. No deaths or injuries were reported in the sources reviewed for this flooding. That finding does not erase the displacement or interrupted care: residents needed boats, accessible shelter and oxygen even after emergency messages had reached their communities.

Flood alerts by the numbers: every published month, by state and county.

2Flooding threatened McLeod Dam and prompted southern New Mexico evacuations

Aerial view of muddy floodwater surrounding homes, fields and an orchard, with emergency vehicles on a partly submerged road.
Photo: Mike Martinez · KVIA

  1. SEP 28, 11 AM UTC

    County order

    Emery County, Utah

  2. SEP 28, 7 PM UTC

    First warning

    Lincoln County, Nevada

  3. SEP 28, 7 PM UTC

    Considerable threat

    Lincoln County, Nevada

  4. SEP 28, 11 PM UTC

    County order

    Socorro County, New Mexico

  5. SEP 29, 12 PM UTC

    County order

    Emery County, Utah

  6. SEP 29, 7 PM UTC

    Catastrophic threat

    Doña Ana County, New Mexico

  7. SEP 29, 7 PM UTC

    Particularly dangerous

    Doña Ana County, New Mexico

  8. SEP 29, 7 PM UTC

    Emergency declared

    Doña Ana County, New Mexico

  9. SEP 29, 10 PM UTC

    Catastrophic threat

    Doña Ana County, New Mexico

  10. SEP 29, 10 PM UTC

    Particularly dangerous

    Doña Ana County, New Mexico

  11. SEP 29, 10 PM UTC

    Emergency declared

    Doña Ana County, New Mexico

  12. SEP 30, 12 AM UTC

    Catastrophic threat

    Doña Ana County, New Mexico

Map of the area this edition covers. 1: Flash flooding in the Southwest, Sep 28–30.1
  • Flash flooding — coloured as water. 62 counties in the Southwest, Sep 28–30.

At the Radium Springs Community Resource Center on September 29, approximately five to seven residents were staying at an evacuation shelter when KRWG interviewed the Red Cross. They had somewhere safe to spend the night while flooding threatened communities farther up the Hatch Valley. The shelter count described that location at that moment, not everyone who had left home.

The previous evening, Socorro County had told residents to shelter in place or evacuate to high ground. The danger then escalated in Doña Ana County, within the Southwest flooding marked 2 on the map. On the afternoon of September 29, the weather service in El Paso and Santa Teresa issued the headline "FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY FOR MCLEOD DAM" after dam operators and county officials reported imminent failure. County emergency messages included the instruction "Evacuate Immediately". Further flash flood emergencies followed into the evening.

Archived alert · September 2026Sent September 30, 2026 · NWS El Paso Tx/Santa Teresa NM
FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY FOR X

The warning did not establish that the dam had collapsed. Later that day, a Doña Ana County spokesperson told the Albuquerque Journal that a small piping failure at McLeod Dam had been mitigated and pumps were being brought in to reduce pressure. The Weather Channel reported that hundreds of people in southern New Mexico had been ordered to evacuate, but it did not establish how many actually left. The order count and the Radium Springs shelter occupancy answered different questions.

Near Hatch, National Guard personnel and firefighters used a high-water vehicle to reach a woman trapped in her vehicle in an arroyo and took her to the fire station, KVIA reported on September 30. The Guard also assisted firefighters responding to a reported roof collapse at a Rincon home. Hatch Valley Public Schools canceled classes for that day, according to KVIA.

On the morning of September 30, Doña Ana County lifted Rincon's evacuation order after officials determined that the major flooding risk had subsided. Flooding, debris and damaged roads remained, the county cautioned. The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that no official reports of deaths or injuries from the southern New Mexico flooding were public by that morning. Permission to return did not mean the roads or homes were ready for ordinary use.

Flood alerts by the numbers: every published month, by state and county.

3Tornadoes damaged an East Shelby home and a Letchworth park pavilion

  1. SEP 2, 12 PM UTC

    First warning

    Crawford County, Pennsylvania

  2. SEP 2, 10 PM UTC

    Tornado seen

    Niagara County, New York

  3. SEP 3, 12 PM UTC

    Last warning

    Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Map of the area this edition covers. 1: Tornadoes and severe storms in the Mid-Atlantic, Sep 2–3.1
  • Tornadoes and severe storms — coloured as storms. 167 counties in the Mid-Atlantic, Sep 2–3.

In Shelby on September 2, resident Jim Foss watched the clouds abruptly change direction. "All of a sudden the clouds are going like this, turning left to right. Then all of a sudden it just switched real fast", he told Spectrum News 1. His account came from western New York, within the wider storm area marked 3 on the map, where surveyors would later trace tornado damage through residential streets and park grounds.

That morning, a tornado warning had gone out for Crawford County, Pennsylvania. By early evening, a warning in Niagara County, New York, described an observed tornado rather than rotation detected only by radar. At 6:07 p.m. local time, the Buffalo weather service reported that "a confirmed waterspout was located just offshore near Newfane" and was moving southeast.

Archived alert · September 2026Sent September 2, 2026 · NWS Buffalo NY
At 607 PM EDT, a confirmed waterspout was located just offshore near Newfane, or 13 miles north of Lockport, moving southeast at 30 mph.

In East Shelby, the September 2 tornado caused significant tree damage at several residences along East Shelby Road and minor structural damage to a home, according to the National Weather Service's survey. Orleans County Emergency Management helped surveyors examine the damage the following day. The findings gave a street-level account of what the storm had done beyond the area named in the warning.

At Letchworth State Park, the tornado snapped or uprooted dozens of large trees along East Parade Grounds Road. Falling trees significantly damaged a large park pavilion, the weather service reported in its September 4 survey account. Livingston County emergency managers identified the worst damage locations and escorted surveyors through the heavily damaged eastern side of the park.

In Olcott, the September 2 tornado damaged trees along Main Street and near the Krull Park entrance, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. CNHI subsequently reported that county parks staff were cleaning up the park and emergency services personnel had supplied drone footage for the survey. The weather service reported no deaths or injuries from the East Shelby and Letchworth tornadoes. The Democrat and Chronicle reported no fatalities or injuries from the Olcott tornado. Those findings apply to the named tornadoes, not every community affected by the wider storms.

Tornado alerts by the numbers: every published month, by state and county.

How BePrepared monitors this, all year

This report exists because we already monitor the whole country. Every couple of minutes, around the clock, we read the emergency alerts going out across all fifty states and territories, and we keep them. A month of that record is what you have just read.

The national picture is the part most people never see. What matters to you is much smaller: which of these warnings would have reached your street, and what the risks around you look like on an ordinary day.

That is what BePrepared is for. Put in your ZIP code and you get the picture for where you live — the flood, fire and storm history around you, the dams and facilities nearby, and a plan for your household rather than a general one. With a free account you can keep a watchlist of the places you care about, like your home, your parents' address, and your kids' school, and set what you want to hear about.

Where it hit hardest

Counted as distinct warnings, and as the days a county spent under one. A county is the smallest area these warnings describe.

Warnings by region

  • Southwest669
  • Ohio Valley536
  • Mid-Atlantic465
  • Texas389
  • Southeast347

Most days under a warning

  • Jackson County, AR23 days
  • Woodruff County, AR23 days
  • Calhoun County, IL22 days
  • Love County, OK21 days
  • Craighead County, AR21 days
  • Poinsett County, AR21 days
  • Lawrence County, AR21 days
  • Perry County, AR21 days
Figure 03Embed this chart

Where the warnings landed

Every county that received a warning this month, coloured and scaled by how many; the faint dots received none.3,120 of the country's counties received at least one warning; the faint dots are the counties that received none, and a quiet county is not a safe county. Each county wears its MOST frequent kind of warning and its dot scales with how many it received; the month's three biggest kinds carry color and every other kind wears gray, with the panels below giving each kind its own map. The full per-county mix is in the CSV. 637 warned areas — marine zones and territories — have no county position on this map, about 13% of county-level warning volume. They are still counted in every figure and table. Too few counties to panel: geologic (1).
Crittenden, AR: 58 warnings · mostly extreme heatLos Angeles, CA: 58 warnings · mostly everything elseRio Blanco, CO: 58 warnings · mostly everything elseRankin, MS: 58 warnings · mostly extreme heatHolt, NE: 58 warnings · mostly severe stormsColumbiana, OH: 58 warnings · mostly severe stormsArmstrong, PA: 58 warnings · mostly severe stormsClarion, PA: 58 warnings · mostly severe stormsFayette, PA: 58 warnings · mostly severe stormsCharles Mix, SD: 58 warnings · mostly severe stormsWashington, UT: 58 warnings · mostly floodingCook, IL: 59 warnings · mostly everything elsePike, KY: 59 warnings · mostly everything elseScioto, OH: 59 warnings · mostly floodingCarson, TX: 59 warnings · mostly everything elseGrand, UT: 59 warnings · mostly everything elseMilwaukee, WI: 59 warnings · mostly everything elseSheboygan, WI: 59 warnings · mostly everything elseFremont, WY: 59 warnings · mostly floodingBell, KY: 60 warnings · mostly floodingDeSoto, MS: 60 warnings · mostly extreme heatBottineau, ND: 60 warnings · mostly everything elseRandolph, WV: 60 warnings · mostly everything elseNassau, FL: 61 warnings · mostly everything elseSan Jacinto, TX: 61 warnings · mostly floodingWebster, WV: 61 warnings · mostly floodingPueblo, CO: 62 warnings · mostly severe stormsLouisa, IA: 62 warnings · mostly floodingArmstrong, TX: 62 warnings · mostly severe stormsSt. Johns, FL: 63 warnings · mostly everything elseHonolulu, HI: 63 warnings · mostly everything elseJohnson, IA: 63 warnings · mostly floodingBoyd, NE: 63 warnings · mostly severe stormsDunn, ND: 63 warnings · mostly everything elseVenango, PA: 63 warnings · mostly severe stormsCulberson, TX: 63 warnings · mostly everything elseNavajo, AZ: 64 warnings · mostly floodingSan Diego, CA: 64 warnings · mostly floodingWells, IN: 64 warnings · mostly floodingLea, NM: 64 warnings · mostly floodingPickaway, OH: 64 warnings · mostly floodingErie, PA: 64 warnings · mostly severe stormsSalt Lake, UT: 64 warnings · mostly everything elseDoddridge, WV: 64 warnings · mostly floodingLas Animas, CO: 65 warnings · mostly everything elsePalm Beach, FL: 65 warnings · mostly floodingAdams, IN: 65 warnings · mostly floodingMcHenry, ND: 65 warnings · mostly everything elseMcKenzie, ND: 65 warnings · mostly everything elseClinton, OH: 65 warnings · mostly floodingPerry, OH: 65 warnings · mostly floodingShelby, TN: 65 warnings · mostly extreme heatKenosha, WI: 65 warnings · mostly everything elseFulton, GA: 66 warnings · mostly safety & civilPolk, IA: 66 warnings · mostly floodingQuay, NM: 66 warnings · mostly floodingHardin, TX: 66 warnings · mostly floodingLiberty, TX: 66 warnings · mostly floodingUtah, UT: 66 warnings · mostly everything elseCabell, WV: 66 warnings · mostly floodingAllen, IN: 67 warnings · mostly floodingEddy, NM: 67 warnings · mostly floodingSan Juan, NM: 67 warnings · mostly floodingBrewster, TX: 67 warnings · mostly everything elseBroward, FL: 68 warnings · mostly floodingMarion, FL: 68 warnings · mostly floodingMorrill, NE: 68 warnings · mostly severe stormsCatron, NM: 68 warnings · mostly floodingLe Flore, OK: 68 warnings · mostly extreme heatDeaf Smith, TX: 68 warnings · mostly floodingFairfield, OH: 69 warnings · mostly floodingHocking, OH: 69 warnings · mostly floodingWoods, OK: 69 warnings · mostly severe stormsSan Bernardino, CA: 72 warnings · mostly floodingBeaver, PA: 72 warnings · mostly severe stormsRoosevelt, NM: 73 warnings · mostly floodingPike, OH: 73 warnings · mostly floodingYavapai, AZ: 74 warnings · mostly floodingMesa, CO: 74 warnings · mostly everything elseGraham, AZ: 75 warnings · mostly floodingGarfield, UT: 75 warnings · mostly floodingPleasants, WV: 75 warnings · mostly severe stormsTorrance, NM: 76 warnings · mostly floodingHighland, OH: 76 warnings · mostly floodingBoone, WV: 76 warnings · mostly floodingWayne, WV: 76 warnings · mostly floodingDuval, FL: 77 warnings · mostly everything elseFergus, MT: 77 warnings · mostly severe stormsLewis, WV: 77 warnings · mostly floodingBernalillo, NM: 78 warnings · mostly floodingKauai, HI: 79 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalCurry, NM: 79 warnings · mostly floodingMorgan, OH: 79 warnings · mostly floodingPecos, TX: 79 warnings · mostly severe stormsSanta Cruz, AZ: 80 warnings · mostly floodingButler, PA: 80 warnings · mostly severe stormsClay, WV: 80 warnings · mostly floodingPutnam, WV: 80 warnings · mostly floodingHarlan, KY: 81 warnings · mostly floodingRio Arriba, NM: 81 warnings · mostly floodingMaui, HI: 83 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalSanta Fe, NM: 84 warnings · mostly floodingCrawford, PA: 84 warnings · mostly severe stormsKanawha, WV: 84 warnings · mostly floodingSan Miguel, NM: 87 warnings · mostly floodingNew Hanover, NC: 87 warnings · mostly floodingPotter, TX: 87 warnings · mostly floodingLuna, NM: 88 warnings · mostly floodingHudspeth, TX: 89 warnings · mostly floodingWashington, PA: 90 warnings · mostly severe stormsGila, AZ: 91 warnings · mostly floodingEmery, UT: 91 warnings · mostly floodingWestmoreland, PA: 92 warnings · mostly severe stormsMohave, AZ: 93 warnings · mostly floodingValencia, NM: 93 warnings · mostly floodingLake, IL: 94 warnings · mostly floodingCoconino, AZ: 95 warnings · mostly floodingChouteau, MT: 95 warnings · mostly everything elseAllegheny, PA: 95 warnings · mostly severe stormsJackson, OH: 96 warnings · mostly floodingPolk, TX: 97 warnings · mostly floodingRoss, OH: 99 warnings · mostly floodingKane, UT: 101 warnings · mostly floodingLincoln, WV: 101 warnings · mostly floodingCibola, NM: 102 warnings · mostly floodingBraxton, WV: 104 warnings · mostly floodingWirt, WV: 105 warnings · mostly floodingGrant, NM: 106 warnings · mostly floodingRitchie, WV: 107 warnings · mostly floodingChaves, NM: 108 warnings · mostly floodingMcKinley, NM: 112 warnings · mostly floodingHawaii, HI: 116 warnings · mostly floodingCalhoun, WV: 116 warnings · mostly floodingRoane, WV: 120 warnings · mostly floodingRandall, TX: 123 warnings · mostly floodingEl Paso, TX: 124 warnings · mostly floodingMason, WV: 125 warnings · mostly floodingGilmer, WV: 126 warnings · mostly floodingSandoval, NM: 129 warnings · mostly floodingSierra, NM: 133 warnings · mostly floodingWood, WV: 133 warnings · mostly floodingVinton, OH: 139 warnings · mostly floodingGallia, OH: 140 warnings · mostly floodingPinal, AZ: 142 warnings · mostly floodingJackson, WV: 144 warnings · mostly floodingWashington, OH: 150 warnings · mostly floodingMaricopa, AZ: 151 warnings · mostly floodingCochise, AZ: 163 warnings · mostly floodingDoña Ana, NM: 167 warnings · mostly floodingAthens, OH: 174 warnings · mostly floodingOtero, NM: 179 warnings · mostly floodingLincoln, NM: 180 warnings · mostly floodingSocorro, NM: 183 warnings · mostly floodingMeigs, OH: 187 warnings · mostly floodingPima, AZ: 235 warnings · mostly floodingPima, AZ · 235Meigs, OH · 187Socorro, NM · 183
  • Extreme heat
  • Flooding
  • Severe storms
  • Everything else

Extreme heat20,559 warnings · 1,785 counties

Flooding16,794 warnings · 1,763 counties

Severe storms14,677 warnings · 1,912 counties

Fire1,225 warnings · 201 counties

Tornadoes678 warnings · 214 counties

Safety & civil648 warnings · 360 counties

Hurricane & tropical313 warnings · 38 counties

Winter25 warnings · 13 counties

View as a table
CountyStateWarningsMost frequent kind
PimaAZ235Flooding
MeigsOH187Flooding
SocorroNM183Flooding
LincolnNM180Flooding
OteroNM179Flooding
AthensOH174Flooding
Doña AnaNM167Flooding
CochiseAZ163Flooding
MaricopaAZ151Flooding
WashingtonOH150Flooding
JacksonWV144Flooding
PinalAZ142Flooding
GalliaOH140Flooding
VintonOH139Flooding
WoodWV133Flooding
SierraNM133Flooding
SandovalNM129Flooding
GilmerWV126Flooding
MasonWV125Flooding
El PasoTX124Flooding

The human record

What it cost, and who reported it

These figures are not ours. Our archive records that a warning was issued, never what happened next, so every number here comes from the organization named beside it and was retrieved on October 1, 2026.

  • Toll

    21people evacuated

    Texas Parks and Wildlife reported that 21 people were evacuated from a damaged assisted-living facility in Hardin County, with game wardens assisting.

    Source: Associated Press

    ArchiveOur records place this event in Texas between 2026-09-02 and 2026-09-03.

  • Toll

    No injuries reported at the time of the update

    Hardin County officials reported no weather-related injuries at the time of their September 2 preliminary response update.

    Source: KFDM

    ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on September 2.

  • Toll

    No deaths or injuries reported in the department's service area

    KPRC reported no deaths or injuries in the Indian Springs Volunteer Fire Department's service area at the time of its interview.

    Source: KPRC 2 / Click2Houston

  • Displaced

    Waist-high water in a Livingston neighborhood forced some residents to leave their homes by boat because they could not safely leave on their own.

    Source: KPRC 2 / Click2Houston

  • Rescue

    12motorists rescued

    2residents rescued from a home

    Hardin County responders rescued 12 motorists and pulled two residents from a flooded home.

    Source: KFDM

  • Toll

    The Las Cruces Sun-News reported that no official reports of injuries or deaths from the southern New Mexico flooding were public by the morning of September 30.

    Source: Las Cruces Sun-News, republished by AOL

    ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on September 30.

  • Displaced

    Hundreds of people ordered to evacuate

    Hundreds of people in at least five southern New Mexico communities were ordered to evacuate as flooding threatened McLeod Dam, although the report did not provide a count of people who actually evacuated.

    Source: The Weather Channel

    ArchiveOur records place this event in New Mexico between 2026-09-28 and 2026-09-30.

  • Displaced

    Approximately 5–7 residents at one shelter

    KRWG reported approximately five to seven residents at the Radium Springs Community Resource Center evacuation shelter when its reporter interviewed the Red Cross on September 29.

    Source: KRWG Public Media

  • Rescue

    1woman rescued

    National Guard personnel and firefighters used a high-water vehicle to rescue a woman trapped in her vehicle in an arroyo near Hatch and took her to the Hatch fire station.

    Source: KVIA ABC-7

  • Rescue

    At least1water rescue

    Doña Ana County reported that at least one water rescue took place in the Rincon area on the morning of September 30.

    Source: Doña Ana County

    ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on September 30.

  • Toll

    0deaths

    0injuries

    The National Weather Service reported zero deaths and zero injuries from the September 2 tornado in East Shelby, southeast of Medina.

    Source: National Weather Service Buffalo

    ArchiveOur records show tornadoes and severe storms warnings covering this area on September 2.

  • Toll

    0deaths

    0injuries

    The National Weather Service reported zero deaths and zero injuries from the September 2 Letchworth State Park tornado in Livingston County.

    Source: National Weather Service Buffalo, archived by Iowa Environmental Mesonet

    ArchiveOur records show tornadoes and severe storms warnings covering this area on September 2.

  • Toll

    0deaths reported

    0injuries reported

    No fatalities or injuries were reported from the September 2 Olcott tornado associated with the storm that produced the waterspout near Newfane.

    Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY Network, republished by AOL

  • Rescue

    Local fire companies responded to multiple water rescues in Clinton and Centre counties during the overnight September 2–3 storm, and the Centre County Water Rescue Task Force was activated.

    Source: AOL, reporting by Jessica McAllister

  • In their words

    Shelby resident Jim Foss described rapidly changing cloud movement during the September 2 storm to Spectrum News 1.

    “All of a sudden the clouds are going like this, turning left to right. Then all of a sudden it just switched real fast”
    Jim Foss, Shelby resident and storm eyewitness, to Spectrum News 1

    Source: Spectrum News 1

For 3 of these stories, research looked for reported deaths and injuries and found none. As far as the record shows, no one was hurt.

The numbers behind this report

Every warning counted once, by type, place, day and hour, with the method below and the whole table downloadable at the end of the page.

Distinct warnings
24,439
carried by 39,067 messages (1.6× echo)
Counties reached
3,757
across 54 states and territories
Overnight
5,245
10pm–6am local · 67 of the most severe
Effective on arrival
99%
take effect the moment they are sent

What was warned about

Alert typeWarningsMessages
Severe Thunderstorm Warning5,6825,683
Special Weather Statement5,3505,355
Flash Flood Warning2,0422,042
Flood Advisory2,0202,020
Small Craft Advisory1,7899,394
Flood Warning9871,286
Heat Advisory8871,370
Special Marine Warning778779

Where

StateWarnings
TX1,710
NM1,412
OH1,063
AZ1,037
KS919
NC835
FL807
CO791

The busiest hour of the period was 4pm local time, with 2,149 warnings.

Counties reached most often

CountyStateWarnings
PimaAZ235
MeigsOH187
SocorroNM183
LincolnNM180
OteroNM179
AthensOH174
Doña AnaNM167
CochiseAZ163
MaricopaAZ151
WashingtonOH150

A county with no alerts is not a county with no risk. It can mean a quiet period, or a hazard that this feed does not carry.

Figure 04Embed this chart

When the warnings arrived

Distinct warnings by the local hour they were sent, across the whole period.Local time in the place each alert was sent to. 5,245 arrived between 10pm and 6am, 67 of them at the highest severity.
01.0K2.0K12am: 631 warnings1am: 599 warnings2am: 683 warnings3am: 574 warnings4am: 520 warnings5am: 453 warnings6am: 484 warnings7am: 478 warnings8am: 499 warnings9am: 599 warnings10am: 601 warnings11am: 759 warnings12pm: 746 warnings1pm: 1,073 warnings2pm: 1,524 warnings3pm: 1,890 warnings4pm: 2,149 warnings5pm: 2,092 warnings6pm: 2,109 warnings7pm: 1,765 warnings8pm: 1,334 warnings9pm: 1,092 warnings10pm: 915 warnings11pm: 870 warnings2,14912am3am6am9am12pm3pm6pm9pmShaded hours are overnight, 10pm to 6am local
View as a table
Local hourWarningsOf which most severe
12am6315
1am59911
2am6832
3am5743
4am5203
5am4535
6am4845
7am47811
8am49916
9am5996
10am60110
11am75912
12pm74620
1pm1,07320
2pm1,52418
3pm1,89036
4pm2,14960
5pm2,09246
6pm2,10960
7pm1,76596
8pm1,33475
9pm1,09230
10pm91529
11pm8709
Figure 05Embed this chart

The feed repeats itself

How many messages the feed carried, how many distinct warnings they represent, and how many counties those reached.An echo rate of 1.6× — for every warning issued, 1.6 messages carried it. Reporting messages as warnings would overstate this month by 14,628.
Messages received19,432 of them updates to a warning already sent39,067Distinct warningswhat every figure in this report counts24,439Counties reacheda warning usually covers several at once3,757
View as a table
StageCount
Messages received39,067
Of which updates19,432
Of which cancels0
Distinct warnings24,439
Counties reached3,757
Figure 06Embed this chart

How severe they were

Distinct warnings by the severity the issuing agency assigned.
MinorMinor: 4,8384,838ModerateModerate: 7,7317,731SevereSevere: 11,12511,125ExtremeExtreme: 588588Not classifiedNot classified: 157157
  • Minor
  • Moderate
  • Severe
  • Extreme
  • Not classified
View as a table
SeverityWarnings
Minor4,838
Moderate7,731
Severe11,125
Extreme588
Not classified157
Figure 07Embed this chart

What people were told to do

The share of warnings carrying each instruction to the public.These are response counts. They record the instruction an alert carried, not the hazard behind it.
Avoid: 8,638 (35.3%)Avoid 35%Follow instructions: 7,024 (28.7%)Follow instructions 29%Shelter: 6,018 (24.6%)Shelter 25%Everything else: 2,759 (11.3%)
  • Avoid
  • Follow instructions
  • Shelter
  • Everything else

Where those instructions came from

  • Shelter (6,018) — 1,463 corroborated as flood, 484 corroborated as tornado, 19 corroborated as wildfire, 4,052 with no hazard stated in the alert text
  • Evacuate (25) — 8 corroborated as flood, 12 corroborated as wildfire, 5 with no hazard stated in the alert text
View as a table
ResponseWarningsShare
Avoid8,63835.3%
Follow instructions7,02428.7%
Shelter6,01824.6%
Monitor1,2865.3%
Prepare1,2044.9%
Unstated2230.9%
Evacuate250.1%
All clear180.1%
No action30.0%

What this report cannot tell you

  • This report records the warnings that were sent: when, where, and what people were told to do. It cannot say whether anyone received them, whether they acted, or whether they had anywhere to go.
  • Deaths, injuries, damage and acreage come from the news organizations and agencies named beside each figure. Our own records measure warnings, never outcomes, and are never the source for a toll.
  • A county is the smallest area these alerts describe, so "a county was warned" does not mean every street in it was at risk.
  • Where no figure has been reported, this report says so rather than estimating.

How these numbers were counted

Counted SEP 1, 2026 – OCT 1, 2026 · Frozen at publish

The alert figures in this report — how many warnings, where, when, and how severe — come from the alerts this archive received from FEMA IPAWS and the National Weather Service between September 1, 2026 and October 1, 2026, counted once and frozen when the report was published.

Deaths, damage and acreage are not ours and are never drawn from this archive. Each is attributed to the organization that reported it, above.

What was counted

  • cap_status = 'Actual' (tests, exercises and demos excluded)
  • SAME test codes RWT/RMT/DMO/NPT/NAT excluded, and any event type containing "test"
  • An event is the first message of a CAP identifier chain; updates and cancels are counted separately
  • Alert time is cap_sent, falling back to ingest time when the feed omits it
  • Counties come from the alert geocodes (SAME/FIPS); statewide codes are not counted as counties

What these numbers cannot tell you

  • Lead time is the gap between when an alert was sent and when it takes effect. This archive collapses CAP onset into effective, so for many products those are the same instant by design — it is not a measure of forecast warning time.
  • 169 alerts expire exactly 24 hours after they were sent because the feed omitted an expiry and the ingest substitutes a default. They are excluded from the duration distribution rather than charted as real forecasts.
  • Evacuation and shelter figures are RESPONSE counts. They record what people were told to do, not what caused it; where the alert text does not name a hazard, the row is reported as unstated.
  • Hour-of-day figures use each alert’s own local time, resolved from its state. Alerts spanning several states resolve to the first state in their geocodes.
  • National Weather Service alerts began arriving in volume on 2026-06-12. Earlier months hold only the handful that reached this archive by other routes, so they undercount weather alerts badly and cannot be compared with later months.
  • Population figures are not available for these counties, so alert counts are reported per county and never per resident.

This archive

Collection began 2026-03-27. National Weather Service alerts began arriving in volume on 2026-06-12 (a small number reached the archive by other routes from 2026-03-31). Months from 2026-07-01 onward can be compared with each other; earlier ones cannot.

Photographs

The photos come from the reporting each story cites, or from public-domain and openly licensed collections. Each is credited as published and links to the page it came from; none belongs to BePrepared, and each is shown uncropped. To ask for a photo to be removed, write to support@bepreparedsolutions.co.

For newsrooms and researchers

Use these figures

Figures v1 · Frozen

Journalists, emergency managers and researchers are welcome to reuse anything in this report, including the underlying counts, with attribution. Version 1 of these figures is frozen: if a correction changes them, it appears above as a dated note rather than silently replacing what you cited.

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Cite this report
BePreparedSolutions.co. "Floods displaced Texans and New Mexicans as tornadoes damaged western New York." Alert Pulse, October 1, 2026. https://bepreparedsolutions.co/reports/alert-pulse/2026-09
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Source: BePrepared Solutions, Alert Pulse (2026). Alert counts from FEMA IPAWS and National Weather Service feeds; casualty and damage figures as attributed in the report.
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