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Alert Pulse · Weekly report · Oct 5 – 11, 2026

Isaias damages the Southeast as floods and fires displace Californians

Storms damaged homes and left prolonged outages across the Southeast, while surf, flooding and fires displaced Californians. Officials and news organizations reported storm-related deaths in Florida and Alabama.

OCT 10, 7 PM UTC · 61 IN THE HOUROCT 5OCT 11DISTINCT WARNINGS PER HOUR4123

Oct 5 – 11, 2026 · 3,610 warnings−13% per day vs Sep 28 – Oct 4, 2026Each story below, on the day it peaked

  • Flash flooding · Oct 9–11

    the Southeast

    A flash flood emergency was declared

  • Tornadoes and severe storms · Oct 11

    North Carolina and South Carolina

    10 tornadoes were seen on the ground

    Named in the warnings: Washington, Grifton, Calico

  • Wildfire · Oct 8–9

    California

    6 orders to leave came from county agencies

  • Tropical storm · Oct 8–9

    the Gulf Coast

    Escambia County spent 3 days under warning

  • Tornadoes and severe storms · Oct 10

    Georgia and South Carolina

    9 tornadoes were seen on the ground

    Named in the warnings: Newington, Hunters, Captolo

Warnings identified dangerous conditions and evacuation orders told residents to leave, but they could not prevent damage, displacement or prolonged outages.

Read the week

Where the week 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 the Southeast, Oct 9–11. 2: Tornadoes and severe storms in North Carolina and South Carolina, Oct 11. 3: Flash flooding in California and Arizona, Oct 11. 4: Wildfire in California, Oct 8–9.1234
  • Flash flooding in the Southeast, Oct 9–11
  • Tornadoes and severe storms in North Carolina and South Carolina, Oct 11
  • Flash flooding in California and Arizona, Oct 11
  • Wildfire in California, Oct 8–9
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 the Southeast and Gulf Coast, October 9 to 11 · Water · 91 counties drawn
  • 2. Tornadoes and severe storms in North Carolina and South Carolina, October 11 · Storms · 39 counties drawn
  • 3. Flash flooding in California and Arizona, October 11 · Water · 6 counties drawn
  • 4. Wildfire in California, October 8 to 9 · Heat and fire · 2 counties drawn
Figure 02

When it happened

Each square is one day of the week, 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.
SunMonTueWedThuFriSatOct 5: 435 warnings5Oct 6: 290 warnings6Oct 7: 295 warnings7Oct 8: 410 warnings · story 4 on the map · documented impact on people84Oct 9: 630 warnings · story 1, 4 on the map · documented impact on people91·4Oct 10: 767 warnings · story 1 on the map · documented impact on people101Oct 11: 783 warnings · story 1, 2, 3 on the map · documented impact on people111·2
  • Fewer warnings
  • More warnings
  • Impact on people reported
View as a table
DayWarningsStory on the mapDocumented impact on people
Oct 5435——
Oct 6290——
Oct 7295——
Oct 84104Yes
Oct 96301, 4Yes
Oct 107671Yes
Oct 117831, 2, 3Yes

1Isaias leaves deaths in Florida and Alabama and flooding farther inland

A collapsed blue Goodyear storefront facade rests across a red flatbed truck outside a damaged tire shop.
Appeared on WUWF
  1. OCT 8, 3 PM UTC

    County order

    Okaloosa County, Florida

  2. OCT 9, 2 AM UTC

    First warning

    Leon County, Florida

  3. OCT 9, 1 PM UTC

    County order

    Santa Rosa County, Florida

  4. OCT 9, 9 PM UTC

    Considerable threat

    Bay County, Florida

  5. OCT 10, 12 AM UTC

    Catastrophic threat

    Okaloosa County, Florida

  6. OCT 10, 12 AM UTC

    Particularly dangerous

    Okaloosa County, Florida

  7. OCT 10, 12 AM UTC

    Emergency declared

    Okaloosa County, Florida

  8. OCT 12, 12 AM UTC

    Last warning

    Leon County, Florida

Map of the area this edition covers. 1: Flash flooding in the Southeast, Oct 9–11.1
  • Flash flooding — coloured as water. 91 counties in the Southeast, Oct 9–11.

In Gulf Breeze, Jayme Mitich sheltered as Isaias tore away part of her apartment roof, she told the Associated Press in an account published October 10. “The noise got so loud, and I just kept hearing things break and crash into everything,” she said. Her account described the wind damage accompanying the Gulf Coast flooding shown inland as well (1 on the map).

The evacuation orders began in Okaloosa County on October 8, directing people in zones A and B to leave. A flood warning followed that evening in Leon County. The next morning, Santa Rosa County issued its October 9 order: “Navarre Beach EVACUATE NOW”. By late afternoon, the weather service was warning of a considerable flash flood damage threat in Bay County, where law enforcement reported flooded roads.

Archived alert · Oct 5 – 11, 2026Sent October 10, 2026 · NWS Mobile AL
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.

At 7:14 p.m. Central on October 9, the weather service in Mobile escalated the warning for Okaloosa County to a flash flood emergency, with a catastrophic damage threat. Its headline read: “FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY FOR SOUTHERN AND COASTAL OKALOOSA COUNTY, FLORIDA”. The warning also designated the flooding a particularly dangerous situation.

By Saturday, the Associated Press reported at least four Isaias-related deaths in Florida and Alabama, not a toll confined to flooding. WUWF reported a generator-related carbon monoxide death in Escambia County; the Associated Press documented deaths involving fallen trees in Alabama. The disruption continued: approximately 226,000 electricity customers in the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama remained without power Sunday evening, according to the Associated Press.

Farther inland, the Associated Press reported Sunday that rescuers in Burke County saved two unhoused people and their dog after Catawba River floodwaters overtook their campsite. WBTV reported that bystanders pulled a driver from a submerged vehicle in the county before emergency responders arrived. These were the kinds of low-lying places covered by the weather service's Sunday flood warnings, which specifically identified campgrounds and low-water crossings.

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

2A tornado damages Raleigh homes as farm buildings fall near Clarendon

  1. OCT 11, 12 PM UTC

    First warning

    Anson County, North Carolina

  2. OCT 11, 3 PM UTC

    Tornado seen

    Cumberland County, North Carolina

  3. OCT 11, 5 PM UTC

    Particularly dangerous

    Franklin County, North Carolina

  4. OCT 11, 6 PM UTC

    Particularly dangerous

    Duplin County, North Carolina

  5. OCT 11, 8 PM UTC

    Last warning

    Beaufort County, North Carolina

Map of the area this edition covers. 1: Tornadoes and severe storms in North Carolina and South Carolina, Oct 11.1
  • Tornadoes and severe storms — coloured as storms. 39 counties in North Carolina and South Carolina, Oct 11.

In Raleigh's Neuse Crossing neighborhood during the October 11 storms, Erik Grubbs reached his bathroom just before a window blew out. “As soon as I closed this door right here and took shelter right in here, this window blew out,” he told WRAL afterward. His roof had caved in, and he planned to stay with a friend during repairs. His home was among the damaged properties in the Carolina storm area (2 on the map).

The morning's tornado warnings began in Anson County, followed later that morning by a warning reporting an observed tornado in Cumberland County. The weather service in Raleigh subsequently wrote: “At 1203 PM EDT, a confirmed tornado was located over Fayetteville, moving northeast at 35 mph.” These warnings described confirmed tornadoes, not solely rotation detected by radar.

Archived alert · Oct 5 – 11, 2026Sent October 11, 2026 · NWS Raleigh NC
At 118 PM EDT, a confirmed tornado was located near Wake Forest, or 9 miles northeast of Raleigh, moving northeast at 25 mph.

By 1:09 p.m. Eastern, a Franklin County tornado warning carried the designation of a particularly dangerous situation. A warning for Duplin County received the same designation at 2:03 p.m. After the storms, the News & Observer reported that downed trees and power lines blocked a highway in Louisburg, where residents were clearing debris and a barn had lost part of its roof.

WRAL documented damaged homes and downed trees in northeast Raleigh on Sunday. Near Clarendon, North Carolina Express reported damage to four structures during that day's storms, citing the weather service. The weather service's subsequent survey documented destroyed open farm buildings along Roseland Road and an empty grain bin lifted from its foundation and shifted. North Carolina Express also reported downed power lines and an outage there.

No deaths or injuries were reported in the agency and news coverage checked for these storms. That is a finding about the reporting, not proof that everyone escaped harm. WRAL specifically said no injuries had been reported as of its 4 p.m. October 11 account of damage in northeast Raleigh and Fayetteville.

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

3Surf drives Long Beach residents from homes; inland flooding strands motorists

  1. OCT 11, 5 AM UTC

    First warning

    Imperial County, California

  2. OCT 11, 5 AM UTC

    Considerable threat

    Imperial County, California

  3. OCT 11, 1 PM UTC

    County order

    Riverside County, California

  4. OCT 11, 1 PM UTC

    County order

    Riverside County, California

  5. OCT 11, 5 PM UTC

    Last warning

    La Paz County, Arizona

  6. OCT 11, 9 PM UTC

    County order

    Los Angeles County, California

Map of the area this edition covers. 1: Flash flooding in California and Arizona, Oct 11.1
  • Flash flooding — coloured as water. 6 counties in California and Arizona, Oct 11.

In Long Beach on October 11, surf smashed through windows and doors and sent seawater into living rooms, AccuWeather reported. Residents were forced from homes, and inspectors deemed multiple structures unsafe to enter. This was coastal surf damage, distinct from the inland flash flooding across Southern California and western Arizona (3 on the map).

At least eight Long Beach structures remained red-tagged on October 11, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported. That was an ongoing count of unsafe buildings, not buildings newly destroyed that day. Crews reinforced shoreline sand berms and positioned equipment in vulnerable neighborhoods. CBS News Los Angeles reported that evacuation advisories for Naples Island, Treasure Island and the Peninsula were lifted that day.

Inland, a flash flood warning carrying a considerable damage threat had begun in Imperial County on Saturday night. At 5:59 a.m. Pacific on Sunday, the weather service in Phoenix replaced a flood advisory for portions of Imperial and Riverside counties with a flash flood warning because the danger continued. Riverside County followed that morning with local messages headed “Alert RivCo: FLOOD ADVISORY/AVISO DE INUNDACIN”.

In Riverside County on October 11, firefighters rescued two motorists from flooded vehicles, MyNewsLA reported. They escorted a motorist to higher ground near Domenigoni Parkway and Leon Road in Winchester. In the other rescue, an inflatable boat retrieved a motorist from a vehicle roof near East San Jacinto Avenue and Murrieta Road. Flooding also kept a section of Leon Road closed.

Near Parker, Arizona, floodwater turned the Desert Bar's dirt access road into a waterway on Sunday. FOX 10 Phoenix reported that management closed the bar and adjoining Dusty Boot Cookhouse to protect visitors and staff. No deaths or injuries were reported in the coverage checked for this coastal and inland flooding; MyNewsLA specifically reported no injuries in the Riverside County vehicle rescues.

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

4Crews stop fires near Lake Isabella and Gorman after evacuation orders

  1. OCT 8, 11 PM UTC

    County order

    Los Angeles County, California

  2. OCT 8, 11 PM UTC

    County order

    Los Angeles County, California

  3. OCT 9, 12 AM UTC

    County order

    Los Angeles County, California

Map of the area this edition covers. 1: Wildfire in California, Oct 8–9.1
  • Wildfire — coloured as heat and fire. 2 counties in California, Oct 8–9.

At Kern Valley High School in Lake Isabella on October 9, an evacuation shelter opened as the Cyrus Fire threatened structures east of town, CAL FIRE reported. Officials requested additional aircraft and ground crews. The shelter gave residents a place to go during the fire evacuations in Kern and Los Angeles counties (4 on the map).

The previous day, October 8, the Danny Fire near Gorman had prompted an evacuation order near Bald Mountain, NBC Los Angeles reported. Residents west of Old Ridge Road and east of the freeway were told to leave. The California Highway Patrol closed Interstate 5 in both directions during the fire, with some lanes reopening that evening.

Near Lake Isabella on Friday, Kern County emergency officials sent the message: “Kern County Sheriff: PREPARE to leave. Wildfire in area. Facebook.com/ReadyKern for update”. An evacuation order update followed in the afternoon, along with evacuation warning updates. CAL FIRE also identified shelter arrangements for large animals and assistance for people needing small-animal shelter. No deaths or injuries were reported in the fire-agency and news coverage checked for these fires.

Near Gorman, crews stopped the Danny Fire's forward progress Thursday after it burned 150 acres, NBC Los Angeles reported. By Friday evening, CAL FIRE reported that the Cyrus Fire's forward progress had stopped near Lake Isabella after burning 450 acres. Those reports establish acreage and the halt in spread, not a count of homes burned.

Wildfire 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

  • Southeast180
  • Gulf Coast38
  • Upper Midwest35
  • Southwest28
  • California27

Most days under a warning

  • Okaloosa County, FL8 days
  • Nassau County, FL8 days
  • Baker County, FL8 days
  • Charlton County, GA8 days
  • San Bernardino County, CA8 days
  • Clinton County, IA8 days
  • Scott County, IA8 days
  • St. Johns County, FL7 days

Where the warnings landed

Every county that received a warning this week, coloured and scaled by how many; the faint dots received none.1,703 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. 515 warned areas — marine zones and territories — have no county position on this map, about 22% of county-level warning volume. They are still counted in every figure and table.
Houston, AL: 23 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalWinston, AL: 23 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalAlachua, FL: 23 warnings · mostly everything elseHolmes, FL: 23 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalJackson, FL: 23 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalBurke, GA: 23 warnings · mostly tornadoesGwinnett, GA: 23 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalJackson, GA: 23 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalJasper, GA: 23 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalElko, NV: 23 warnings · mostly fireTransylvania, NC: 23 warnings · mostly floodingConecuh, AL: 24 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalCrenshaw, AL: 24 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalPike, AL: 24 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalCalhoun, FL: 24 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalMonroe, FL: 24 warnings · mostly floodingVolusia, FL: 24 warnings · mostly floodingWashington, FL: 24 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalAshe, NC: 24 warnings · mostly floodingNew Hanover, NC: 24 warnings · mostly floodingWatauga, NC: 24 warnings · mostly floodingLexington, SC: 24 warnings · mostly tornadoesHenry, AL: 25 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalBaker, FL: 25 warnings · mostly floodingHorry, SC: 25 warnings · mostly tornadoesBarbour, AL: 26 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalBullock, AL: 26 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalLiberty, FL: 26 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalBurke, NC: 26 warnings · mostly floodingCaldwell, NC: 26 warnings · mostly floodingLeon, FL: 27 warnings · mostly floodingClark, NV: 27 warnings · mostly floodingBuncombe, NC: 27 warnings · mostly floodingWake, NC: 27 warnings · mostly tornadoesBarnwell, SC: 27 warnings · mostly tornadoesGeneva, AL: 28 warnings · mostly floodingGadsden, FL: 28 warnings · mostly floodingJefferson, FL: 28 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalNye, NV: 28 warnings · mostly everything elseColumbus, NC: 28 warnings · mostly tornadoesLos Angeles, CA: 29 warnings · mostly safety & civilDixie, FL: 30 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalPutnam, FL: 30 warnings · mostly floodingHenderson, NC: 30 warnings · mostly floodingDale, AL: 31 warnings · mostly floodingOrange, CA: 32 warnings · mostly floodingWakulla, FL: 32 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalAiken, SC: 32 warnings · mostly tornadoesLevy, FL: 34 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalCoffee, AL: 35 warnings · mostly floodingBay, FL: 35 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalEscambia, AL: 36 warnings · mostly floodingImperial, CA: 36 warnings · mostly floodingCovington, AL: 38 warnings · mostly floodingTaylor, FL: 38 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalWalton, FL: 39 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalCharleston, SC: 40 warnings · mostly floodingSan Bernardino, CA: 41 warnings · mostly floodingGulf, FL: 41 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalClay, FL: 42 warnings · mostly floodingFranklin, FL: 42 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalNassau, FL: 43 warnings · mostly floodingMobile, AL: 51 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalBaldwin, AL: 56 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalRiverside, CA: 57 warnings · mostly floodingDuval, FL: 57 warnings · mostly floodingSt. Johns, FL: 57 warnings · mostly floodingEscambia, FL: 58 warnings · mostly hurricane & tropicalSan Diego, CA: 64 warnings · mostly floodingSanta Rosa, FL: 83 warnings · mostly floodingOkaloosa, FL: 94 warnings · mostly floodingOkaloosa, FL · 94Santa Rosa, FL · 83San Diego, CA · 64
  • Flooding
  • Hurricane & tropical
  • Fire
  • Everything else

Flooding4,110 warnings · 711 counties

Hurricane & tropical2,622 warnings · 263 counties

Fire523 warnings · 97 counties

Tornadoes419 warnings · 93 counties

Extreme heat351 warnings · 50 counties

Severe storms319 warnings · 83 counties

Winter180 warnings · 73 counties

Safety & civil175 warnings · 112 counties

View as a table
CountyStateWarningsMost frequent kind
OkaloosaFL94Flooding
Santa RosaFL83Flooding
San DiegoCA64Flooding
EscambiaFL58Hurricane & tropical
DuvalFL57Flooding
St. JohnsFL57Flooding
RiversideCA57Flooding
BaldwinAL56Hurricane & tropical
MobileAL51Hurricane & tropical
NassauFL43Flooding
FranklinFL42Hurricane & tropical
ClayFL42Flooding
GulfFL41Hurricane & tropical
San BernardinoCA41Flooding
CharlestonSC40Flooding
WaltonFL39Hurricane & tropical
7777538Everything else
TaylorFL38Hurricane & tropical
CovingtonAL38Flooding
ImperialCA36Flooding

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 13, 2026.

  • Toll

    at least4deaths

    The Associated Press reported at least four Hurricane Isaias-related deaths in Florida and Alabama.

    Source: Associated Press

    ArchiveOur records place this event in Florida between 2026-10-09 and 2026-10-11.

  • Toll

    2deaths

    4people hospitalized

    Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons reported two storm-related deaths, including a generator-related carbon monoxide death, and four other people hospitalized.

    Source: WUWF

  • Toll

    2deaths

    Alabama officials reported one death from a tree falling onto a Birmingham house and another in a vehicle crash involving a fallen tree in Barbour County.

    Source: Associated Press

    ArchiveOur records place this event in Alabama between 2026-10-09 and 2026-10-11.

  • Displaced

    50residents relocated

    The Florida National Guard assisted with relocating 50 residents with special needs during the hurricane response.

    Source: Florida Department of Transportation

    ArchiveOur records place this event in Florida between 2026-10-09 and 2026-10-11.

  • Rescue

    1person rescued

    Henderson County rescuers and the Hendersonville Fire Department successfully rescued one person after deploying at approximately 8:38 p.m. on October 10.

    Source: FOX Carolina

    ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on October 10.

  • Toll

    4structures damaged

    North Carolina Express, citing the National Weather Service, reported damage to four structures in Clarendon, Columbus County, during the October 11 storms.

    Source: North Carolina Express

    ArchiveOur records show tornadoes and severe storms warnings covering this area on October 11.

  • Toll

    WRAL reported that no injuries had been reported as of its 4 p.m. account of confirmed storm damage in northeast Raleigh and Fayetteville.

    Source: WRAL

  • Displaced

    WRAL reported that Grubbs' roof had caved in, glass and insulation covered his living room, and he planned to stay with a friend while his home was repaired.

    Source: WRAL

  • In their words

    Neuse Crossing resident Erik Grubbs told WRAL that a window blew out immediately after he took shelter in his bathroom.

    “As soon as I closed this door right here and took shelter right in here, this window blew out.”
    Erik Grubbs, Homeowner in Raleigh's Neuse Crossing neighborhood, to WRAL

    Source: WRAL

  • In their words

    Chadbourn Town Manager David Wise told Columbus County News that the town experienced nothing unusual during the storm.

    “We had nothing unusual”
    David Wise, Chadbourn Town Manager, to Columbus County News

    Source: Columbus County News

  • Toll

    No injuries reported in two rescue incidents

    No injuries were reported in either of the two Riverside County flooded-vehicle rescues on October 11.

    Source: MyNewsLA

    ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on October 11.

  • Displaced

    AccuWeather reported that flooding forced Long Beach residents from their homes and that building inspectors deemed multiple structures unsafe to enter, without providing a displacement count.

    Source: AccuWeather

  • Rescue

    2motorists rescued

    Firefighters rescued two motorists from flooded vehicles on October 11, escorting one to higher ground near Domenigoni Parkway and Leon Road in Winchester and using an inflatable boat to retrieve the other from a vehicle roof near East San Jacinto Avenue and Murrieta Road.

    Source: MyNewsLA

  • In their words

    Long Beach resident Henry Starnes told FOX 11 that he had stocked his home with sandbags.

    “I definitely have the sandbags, I have 10 in my house just to be sure.”
    Henry Starnes, Long Beach resident, to FOX 11 Los Angeles

    Source: FOX 11 Los Angeles

  • Damage

    At least8structures remained red-tagged

    FOX 11 reported on October 11 that at least eight Long Beach structures remained red-tagged, identifying an ongoing unsafe-building count rather than a count of buildings newly destroyed that day.

    Source: FOX 11 Los Angeles

  • Toll

    450acres burned

    CAL FIRE reported that the Cyrus Fire near Lake Isabella in Kern County had burned 450 acres by 7:07 p.m. on October 9, 2026.

    Source: CAL FIRE

    ArchiveOur records show wildfire warnings covering this area on October 9.

  • Toll

    150acres burned

    NBC Los Angeles reported that the Danny Fire in the Gorman area of Los Angeles County burned 150 acres on October 8 before crews stopped its forward progress.

    Source: NBC Los Angeles

    ArchiveOur records show wildfire warnings covering this area on October 8.

  • Toll

    Los Angeles County Fire Department Captain Aaron Katon told the Los Angeles Times there were no known injuries from the Danny Fire.

    Source: Los Angeles Times

  • Displaced

    An evacuation shelter for the Cyrus Fire opened at Kern Valley High School, 3340 Erskine Creek Road in Lake Isabella, on October 9.

    Source: CAL FIRE

  • Closed

    The California Highway Patrol closed northbound Interstate 5 at Smokey Bear Road and southbound Interstate 5 at Highway 138 during the Danny Fire, with some lanes reopening before 8 p.m. on October 8.

    Source: NBC Los Angeles

    ArchiveOur records show wildfire warnings covering this area on October 8.

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
3,610
carried by 9,595 messages (2.66× echo)
Counties reached
2,218
across 51 states and territories
Overnight
1,038
10pm–6am local · 25 of the most severe
Effective on arrival
99%
take effect the moment they are sent

What was warned about

Alert typeWarningsMessages
Small Craft Advisory6132,673
Flood Advisory294295
Flood Warning211298
Special Weather Statement191195
Flash Flood Warning189189
Tornado Warning174174
Special Marine Warning159159
Flood Watch146170

Where

StateWarnings
FL462
NC285
CA273
AL179
GA173
SC118
AZ93
IA84

The busiest hour of the period was 11am local time, with 204 warnings.

Counties reached most often

CountyStateWarnings
OkaloosaFL94
Santa RosaFL83
San DiegoCA64
EscambiaFL58
DuvalFL57
St. JohnsFL57
RiversideCA57
BaldwinAL56
MobileAL51
NassauFL43

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.

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. 1,038 arrived between 10pm and 6am, 25 of them at the highest severity.
010020012am: 124 warnings1am: 131 warnings2am: 160 warnings3am: 94 warnings4am: 114 warnings5am: 90 warnings6am: 120 warnings7am: 123 warnings8am: 122 warnings9am: 155 warnings10am: 178 warnings11am: 204 warnings12pm: 166 warnings1pm: 193 warnings2pm: 181 warnings3pm: 181 warnings4pm: 159 warnings5pm: 149 warnings6pm: 153 warnings7pm: 170 warnings8pm: 145 warnings9pm: 173 warnings10pm: 165 warnings11pm: 160 warnings20412am3am6am9am12pm3pm6pm9pmShaded hours are overnight, 10pm to 6am local
View as a table
Local hourWarningsOf which most severe
12am1242
1am1312
2am1604
3am942
4am1144
5am903
6am1204
7am1234
8am1225
9am1558
10am17817
11am20421
12pm16626
1pm19340
2pm18129
3pm18129
4pm15922
5pm14925
6pm15316
7pm1709
8pm1457
9pm17310
10pm1655
11pm1603

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 2.66× — for every warning issued, 2.66 messages carried it. Reporting messages as warnings would overstate this week by 5,985.
Messages received5,831 of them updates to a warning already sent9,595Distinct warningswhat every figure in this report counts3,610Counties reacheda warning usually covers several at once2,218
View as a table
StageCount
Messages received9,595
Of which updates5,831
Of which cancels0
Distinct warnings3,610
Counties reached2,218

How severe they were

Distinct warnings by the severity the issuing agency assigned.
MinorMinor: 1,2951,295ModerateModerate: 780780SevereSevere: 1,1941,194ExtremeExtreme: 297297Not classifiedNot classified: 4444
  • Minor
  • Moderate
  • Severe
  • Extreme
  • Not classified
View as a table
SeverityWarnings
Minor1,295
Moderate780
Severe1,194
Extreme297
Not classified44

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: 1,783 (49.4%)Avoid 49%Follow instructions: 510 (14.1%)Prepare: 505 (14.0%)Prepare 14%Everything else: 812 (22.5%)Everything else 22%
  • Avoid
  • Follow instructions
  • Prepare
  • Everything else

Where those instructions came from

  • Shelter (300) — 7 corroborated as flood, 190 corroborated as tornado, 3 corroborated as wildfire, 2 corroborated as hurricane, 98 with no hazard stated in the alert text
  • Evacuate (5) — 1 corroborated as flood, 3 corroborated as wildfire, 1 with no hazard stated in the alert text
View as a table
ResponseWarningsShare
Avoid1,78349.4%
Follow instructions51014.1%
Prepare50514.0%
Monitor45012.5%
Shelter3008.3%
Unstated501.4%
All clear70.2%
Evacuate50.1%

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 OCT 5, 2026 – OCT 12, 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 October 5, 2026 and October 12, 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.
  • 34 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.

Cite this report
BePreparedSolutions.co. "Isaias damages the Southeast as floods and fires displace Californians." Alert Pulse, October 13, 2026. https://bepreparedsolutions.co/reports/alert-pulse/week-2026-10-05
Attribution line for a chart or table
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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The CSV carries the same frozen figures as this page, keyed to version 1.