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Alert Pulse · Weekly report · Oct 19 – 25, 2026

Floods and a tornado hit the Southwest as overwash closes Hatteras roads

Flooding drove families from homes across the Four Corners and Socorro County. In Arizona, a tornado injured a bicyclist; on Hatteras Island, damaged pavement brought emergency ferries.

OCT 22, 8 PM UTC · 80 IN THE HOUROCT 19OCT 25DISTINCT WARNINGS PER HOUR4312

Oct 19 – 25, 2026 · 3,742 warnings0% per day vs Oct 12 – 18, 2026Each story below, on the day it peaked

  • Flash flooding · Oct 21–25

    the Southwest

    8 orders to leave came from county agencies

  • Tornadoes and severe storms · Oct 22–23

    Arizona and New Mexico

    Gusts to 70 mph

    Named in the warnings: Marquez, Cebolletita, Seboyeta

  • Tornadoes and severe storms · Oct 21–22

    the Southwest

    Gusts to 70 mph

    Named in the warnings: Fort Valley, Bellemont, Government Prairie

  • River flooding · Oct 25

    New Mexico

    3 orders to leave came from county agencies

  • Coastal flooding · Oct 19–22

    North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland

    A county agency told people to leave

Warnings and evacuation orders told residents to seek safety, but could not keep floodwater out of homes or roads open.

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 Southwest, Oct 21–25. 2: River flooding in New Mexico, Oct 25. 3: Tornadoes and severe storms in the Southwest, Oct 21–22. 4: Coastal flooding in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, Oct 19–22.1234
  • Flash flooding in the Southwest, Oct 21–25
  • River flooding in New Mexico, Oct 25
  • Tornadoes and severe storms in the Southwest, Oct 21–22
  • Coastal flooding in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, Oct 19–22
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 Southwest and Rockies, October 21 to 25 · Water · 54 counties drawn
  • 2. River flooding in New Mexico, October 25 · Water · 1 counties drawn
  • 3. Tornadoes and severe storms in the Southwest, October 21 to 22 · Storms · 21 counties drawn
  • 4. Coastal flooding in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic, October 19 to 22 · Water · 8 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 19: 270 warnings · story 4 on the map · documented impact on people194Oct 20: 271 warnings · story 4 on the map · documented impact on people204Oct 21: 509 warnings · story 1, 3, 4 on the map · documented impact on people211·3Oct 22: 920 warnings · story 1, 3, 4 on the map · documented impact on people221·3Oct 23: 822 warnings · story 1 on the map · documented impact on people231Oct 24: 515 warnings · story 1 on the map · documented impact on people241Oct 25: 435 warnings · story 1, 2 on the map · documented impact on people251·2
  • Fewer warnings
  • More warnings
  • Impact on people reported
View as a table
DayWarningsStory on the mapDocumented impact on people
Oct 192704Yes
Oct 202714Yes
Oct 215091, 3, 4Yes
Oct 229201, 3, 4Yes
Oct 238221Yes
Oct 245151Yes
Oct 254351, 2Yes

1Floods drive Bloomfield families from home and wash out Four Corners roads

A man stands knee-deep in muddy floodwater beside sheds and stacked blocks, with red desert hills in the background.
Appeared on Navajo Times

  1. OCT 21, 2 PM UTC

    First warning

    Kane County, Utah

  2. OCT 21, 2 PM UTC

    Considerable threat

    Kane County, Utah

  3. OCT 21, 5 PM UTC

    County order

    Emery County, Utah

  4. OCT 21, 8 PM UTC

    County order

    San Juan County, Utah

  5. OCT 22, 11 AM UTC

    County order

    Emery County, Utah

  6. OCT 26, 12 AM UTC

    Last warning

    San Juan County, New Mexico

Map of the area this edition covers. 1: Flash flooding in the Southwest, Oct 21–25.1
  • Flash flooding — coloured as water. 54 counties in the Southwest, Oct 21–25.

At the McGee Park emergency shelter, Bloomfield resident Dennis Alexander described losing his possessions to flooding in an October 24 Albuquerque Journal report. “Totally lost everything.” His displacement was part of the Four Corners flooding marked 1 on the map, where families needed rescue and rising water broke road connections between communities.

The warning sequence began in Kane County, Utah, on the morning of October 21 with a flash flood warning carrying a considerable damage threat. The following day, San Juan County, Utah, issued this instruction: “San Juan County Flood Alert Avoid washes and flooded roads. Move to higher ground.” Farther south, responders were already reaching stranded families. Navajo Police told the Navajo Times that rescuers brought 30 people to safety in Dennehotso, Arizona, that day, using an all-terrain rescue vehicle and a helicopter.

By October 23, Source New Mexico reported at least 60 swift-water rescues in San Juan County, New Mexico, since the previous day, citing a weather service database containing sheriff’s office figures. The same report gave an early estimate of approximately 1,500 damaged homes between Farmington and Bloomfield. That was not a final assessment: county officials subsequently told the Associated Press that official totals for damaged homes and evacuees remained unavailable. In Colorado that Friday, Rio Grande County ordered: “Evacuate NOW. Wolf Creek Ranch to Fun Valley”. The Associated Press reported floodwater surrounding trailers at the Fun Valley campground in South Fork.

On October 24, residents of Bluff, Montezuma Creek and Aneth were evacuated as the San Juan River flooded, according to the San Juan Record. The paper also reported that flooding closed the Montezuma Creek bridge during the emergency. By the following day, the Colorado Department of Transportation reported that water had washed away a segment of Highway 151 south of Chimney Rock, leaving the route impassable within the closure and requiring emergency reconstruction.

Separately, the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office reported one flooding death on October 24 after a vehicle attempted to cross a flooded arroyo, according to the Associated Press. That death occurred outside San Juan County, where officials told the AP the following day that they were unaware of deaths and still lacked official damage and evacuation totals.

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

2Floodwaters kill a woman and trap residents in Socorro County

  1. OCT 25, 11 PM UTC

    County order

    Socorro County, New Mexico

  2. OCT 25, 11 PM UTC

    County order

    Socorro County, New Mexico

  3. OCT 25, 11 PM UTC

    County order

    Socorro County, New Mexico

Map of the area this edition covers. 1: River flooding in New Mexico, Oct 25.1
  • River flooding — coloured as water. 1 county in New Mexico, Oct 25.

In Socorro County on the evening of October 25, flooding trapped residents in their homes and prompted evacuations, according to accounts from the Associated Press and KOAT. The emergency in the San Francisco area, marked 2 on the map, continued into an overnight search for people who needed help.

That evening, Socorro County’s emergency messages moved from preparation to evacuation. At 5:01 p.m. local time, the county told San Francisco residents to be ready to leave. At 5:38 p.m., it told them to get set to evacuate.

At 5:53 p.m., the county issued the order: “SCOEM: RIVER FLOODING in San Francisco area. EVACUATE NOW.” Responders evacuated residents that evening, and emergency management directed people leaving San Francisco to Finley Gym in Socorro, KOAT reported.

Travel was also disrupted. In its follow-up report the next day, KOAT said flooding had closed U.S. Highway 60 immediately east of Interstate 25. Finley Gym opened as an evacuation shelter while responders conducted water rescues in the area.

The overnight operation could not bring everyone to safety. The Associated Press reported the next day that one woman died after floodwater swept her away in Socorro County. Valencia County Fire Chief Matthew Propp told the AP that nine other people were rescued as teams searched overnight.

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

3An EF1 tornado damages homes in Heber-Overgaard

  1. OCT 21, 12 PM UTC

    First warning

    Coconino County, Arizona

  2. OCT 22, 12 PM UTC

    Last warning

    Gila County, Arizona

Map of the area this edition covers. 1: Tornadoes and severe storms in the Southwest, Oct 21–22.1
  • Tornadoes and severe storms — coloured as storms. 21 counties in the Southwest, Oct 21–22.

In Heber-Overgaard on October 21, a bicyclist caught and thrown by the storm was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, KNAU reported. The community’s damaged homes and displaced residents became the focus of the Arizona storm story marked 3 on the map.

Earlier that morning, a tornado warning had gone out for Coconino County at 5:19 a.m. local time. The regional warnings named places including Bellemont and Flagstaff, but those messages alone do not establish what warning the bicyclist received. The National Weather Service later confirmed that an EF1 tornado damaged homes and buildings in Heber-Overgaard, according to KNAU.

In the initial assessment after the storm, Navajo County Sheriff David Clouse gave Arizona’s Family a preliminary count of 20 to 30 affected structures in Heber-Overgaard, emphasizing that assessments were unfinished. A homeowner identified as Paul told the outlet, “We were sitting and the house was shaking when the tornado came through”. Trees damaged his roof and fence.

By October 22, a reception center had opened at the Navajo County Heber Complex and a Red Cross shelter at Capps Middle School for displaced residents, KNAU reported. Responders assessed damage and dealt with damaged propane tanks and fallen power lines. Residents also cleared fallen trees from Forest Service Road 51, according to Arizona’s Family. At that morning’s briefing, the fire chief reported no fatalities or serious injuries, KNAU said.

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

4Ocean overwash damages the Hatteras highway and brings emergency ferries

  1. OCT 19, 12 AM UTC

    First warning

    Hyde County, North Carolina

  2. OCT 19, 1 PM UTC

    County order

    Dare County, North Carolina

  3. OCT 23, 12 AM UTC

    Last warning

    Hyde County, North Carolina

Map of the area this edition covers. 1: Coastal flooding in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, Oct 19–22.1
  • Coastal flooding — coloured as water. 8 counties in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, Oct 19–22.

Near the Pea Island Visitor Center on October 21, approximately 800 feet of highway pavement had been damaged overnight, North Carolina transportation representative Jamie Kritzer told WAVY. The damaged stretch was part of the Hatteras Island travel disruption marked 4 on the map. With the road impassable, residents would turn to emergency ferries the following morning.

Hyde County was under a coastal flood warning by the evening of October 18. The next morning, Dare County Emergency Management sent this message: “DARE COUNTY UNDER STATE OF EMERGENCY - HATTERAS ISLAND VISITORS ORDERED TO EVACUATE”. The county said the mandatory visitor evacuation remained in effect and entry remained closed to visitors. It also reported beach erosion and ocean overwash on side streets around Rodanthe.

Archived alert · Oct 19 – 25, 2026Sent October 19, 2026 · NWS Newport/Morehead City NC
For the Coastal Flood Warning, 2 to 4 feet of inundation above ground level in low-lying areas near shorelines and tidal waterways. For the High Surf Advisory, large breaking waves of 6 to 9 feet in the surf zone. For the Beach Hazards…

On October 22, the highway remained closed between the Marc Basnight Bridge and Rodanthe, with no estimated reopening date, the Island Free Press reported. Emergency ferry service between Rodanthe and Stumpy Point began at 5 a.m. to reconnect the island with the mainland. State transportation officials restricted island-bound service to eligible residents, property owners, workers and essential personnel, excluding visitors.

The governor’s office reported on October 22 that overwash had removed more than 1,800 feet of protective dunes near the Pea Island Visitor Center. Crews worked to rebuild dunes and remove sand from the highway. Additional pavement and dune damage had occurred overnight, but revised measurements were not yet available, according to the Island Free Press. No death or injury was reported in the official updates and news coverage reviewed for this coastal flooding.

Amid the travel restrictions, school officials, the sheriff’s office and local fire departments helped the Cape Hatteras volleyball team leave the island for its October 21 playoff game, The Outer Banks Voice reported. Board of Education chair David Twiddy told the publication: “Despite the transportation challenges, these student athletes and coaches are on their way thanks to the efforts of many dedicated people.”

Flood 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

  • Southwest434
  • Rockies42
  • Texas22
  • California12
  • Alaska10

Most days under a warning

  • Volusia County, FL8 days
  • Yukon-Koyukuk, AK8 days
  • Brantley County, GA8 days
  • Lake County, FL8 days
  • Navajo County, AZ6 days
  • Coconino County, AZ6 days
  • Cibola County, NM6 days
  • Rio Arriba County, NM6 days
Figure 03Embed this chart

Where the warnings landed

Every county that received a warning this week, coloured and scaled by how many; the faint dots received none.1,253 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. 482 warned areas — marine zones and territories — have no county position on this map, about 26% of county-level warning volume. They are still counted in every figure and table.
Dolores, CO: 23 warnings · mostly floodingChaves, NM: 23 warnings · mostly severe stormsSan Miguel, NM: 23 warnings · mostly everything elseMohave, AZ: 25 warnings · mostly severe stormsCochise, AZ: 28 warnings · mostly severe stormsVolusia, FL: 28 warnings · mostly floodingSan Juan, CO: 29 warnings · mostly floodingKern, CA: 31 warnings · mostly floodingHudspeth, TX: 32 warnings · mostly severe stormsHinsdale, CO: 33 warnings · mostly floodingTulare, CA: 34 warnings · mostly everything elseVentura, CA: 36 warnings · mostly everything elseSan Miguel, CO: 36 warnings · mostly floodingHidalgo, NM: 37 warnings · mostly severe stormsEl Paso, TX: 37 warnings · mostly severe stormsTorrance, NM: 38 warnings · mostly everything elseMineral, CO: 39 warnings · mostly floodingFresno, CA: 41 warnings · mostly everything elseSanta Fe, NM: 41 warnings · mostly everything elsePiute, UT: 43 warnings · mostly everything elseLa Plata, CO: 45 warnings · mostly floodingOtero, NM: 45 warnings · mostly severe stormsWayne, UT: 46 warnings · mostly everything elseLos Angeles, CA: 47 warnings · mostly everything elseLincoln, NM: 47 warnings · mostly everything elseSanta Barbara, CA: 49 warnings · mostly floodingDoña Ana, NM: 49 warnings · mostly severe stormsGarfield, UT: 52 warnings · mostly everything elseConejos, CO: 53 warnings · mostly floodingMontezuma, CO: 53 warnings · mostly floodingBeaver, UT: 53 warnings · mostly everything elsePinal, AZ: 55 warnings · mostly severe stormsArchuleta, CO: 55 warnings · mostly floodingLuna, NM: 55 warnings · mostly severe stormsBernalillo, NM: 56 warnings · mostly everything elseGreenlee, AZ: 58 warnings · mostly severe stormsSierra, NM: 59 warnings · mostly severe stormsIron, UT: 59 warnings · mostly everything elseCatron, NM: 60 warnings · mostly severe stormsRio Grande, CO: 62 warnings · mostly floodingValencia, NM: 62 warnings · mostly everything elseMaricopa, AZ: 65 warnings · mostly severe stormsGrant, NM: 68 warnings · mostly severe stormsSocorro, NM: 69 warnings · mostly everything elseKane, UT: 70 warnings · mostly everything elseApache, AZ: 81 warnings · mostly severe stormsWashington, UT: 83 warnings · mostly everything elseYavapai, AZ: 84 warnings · mostly severe stormsRio Arriba, NM: 86 warnings · mostly severe stormsSan Juan, UT: 89 warnings · mostly floodingGila, AZ: 100 warnings · mostly severe stormsMcKinley, NM: 100 warnings · mostly floodingGraham, AZ: 111 warnings · mostly severe stormsSan Juan, NM: 115 warnings · mostly floodingCibola, NM: 117 warnings · mostly floodingNavajo, AZ: 120 warnings · mostly severe stormsCoconino, AZ: 123 warnings · mostly severe stormsSandoval, NM: 155 warnings · mostly severe stormsSandoval, NM · 155Coconino, AZ · 123Navajo, AZ · 120
  • Flooding
  • Severe storms
  • Winter
  • Everything else

Flooding1,776 warnings · 218 counties

Severe storms1,230 warnings · 60 counties

Winter316 warnings · 116 counties

Safety & civil165 warnings · 71 counties

Tornadoes96 warnings · 21 counties

Fire51 warnings · 18 counties

View as a table
CountyStateWarningsMost frequent kind
SandovalNM155Severe storms
CoconinoAZ123Severe storms
NavajoAZ120Severe storms
CibolaNM117Flooding
San JuanNM115Flooding
GrahamAZ111Severe storms
GilaAZ100Severe storms
McKinleyNM100Flooding
San JuanUT89Flooding
Rio ArribaNM86Severe storms
YavapaiAZ84Severe storms
WashingtonUT83Everything else
ApacheAZ81Severe storms
KaneUT70Everything else
SocorroNM69Everything else
GrantNM68Severe storms
MaricopaAZ65Severe storms
Rio GrandeCO62Flooding
ValenciaNM62Everything else
CatronNM60Severe storms

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 27, 2026.

  • Toll

    1death

    The Santa Fe County sheriff's office reported one flooding death on October 24 after a vehicle attempted to cross a flooded arroyo.

    Source: Associated Press via The Independent

  • Toll

    approximately1,500homes damaged

    Source New Mexico reported an estimated 1,500 homes damaged between Farmington and Bloomfield, citing a National Weather Service database containing San Juan County Sheriff's Office figures.

    Source: Source New Mexico

    ArchiveOur records place this event in New Mexico between 2026-10-21 and 2026-10-25.

  • Toll

    On October 25, San Juan County spokesperson Devin Neeley told the Associated Press that official totals for damaged homes and evacuated people were not available and officials were unaware of deaths in the county.

    Source: Associated Press via Local 10

    ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on October 25.

  • Displaced

    Residents of Bluff, Montezuma Creek and Aneth, Utah, were evacuated on October 24 as the San Juan River flooded.

    Source: San Juan Record

    ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on October 24.

  • Rescue

    at least60people rescued

    The same database recorded swift-water rescues of at least 60 people since October 22, and county spokesperson Devin Neeley told Source New Mexico that the actual number could be higher.

    Source: Source New Mexico

    ArchiveOur records show flash flooding warnings covering this area on October 22.

  • Toll

    1death

    One woman died after floodwaters swept her away in Socorro County during the flooding that trapped residents in their homes.

    Source: Associated Press

  • Displaced

    Responders evacuated residents on October 25, and county emergency management directed San Francisco evacuees to Finley Gym in Socorro.

    Source: KOAT

  • Rescue

    9people rescued

    Valencia County Fire Chief Matthew Propp said nine other people were rescued in Socorro County as teams searched for residents overnight.

    Source: Associated Press

  • Closed

    Flooding closed U.S. Highway 60 immediately east of Interstate 25.

    Source: KOAT

  • Response

    Finley Gym in Socorro opened as an evacuation shelter.

    Source: KOAT

  • Toll

    1person hospitalized

    A bicyclist caught and thrown by the October 21 storm in Heber-Overgaard was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

    Source: KNAU

  • Toll

    0fatalities reported

    Heber-Overgaard Fire Chief Jason Payne reported no fatalities or serious injuries during the October 22 media briefing covered by KNAU.

    “No fatalities or serious injuries.”
    Jason Payne, Heber-Overgaard fire chief, to KNAU

    Source: KNAU

  • Displaced

    A reception center opened at the Navajo County Heber Complex and a Red Cross shelter opened at Capps Middle School for residents displaced by the storm.

    Source: KNAU

  • Displaced

    Families displaced by the Dennehotso flooding stayed at the chapter house or a local church while food, water, blankets and other supplies were distributed.

    Source: Navajo Times

  • Rescue

    30 people from 7 families rescued

    Authorities rescued 30 people from seven families from flooded homes in Dennehotso on October 22.

    Source: Arizona's Family

  • Damage

    Approximately800feet of highway pavement damaged

    NCDOT representative Jamie Kritzer told WAVY that approximately 800 feet of pavement near the Pea Island Visitor Center had been damaged overnight.

    “We have seen pavement damage overnight about 800 feet worth in that stretch of road near the Pea Island Visitor Center”
    Jamie Kritzer, North Carolina Department of Transportation representative, to WAVY

    Source: WAVY, republished by AOL

  • Damage

    More than1,800feet of protective dunes lost

    The governor's office reported that ocean overwash had removed more than 1,800 feet of protective dunes near the Pea Island Visitor Center.

    Source: Office of the Governor of North Carolina

  • Damage

    Additional pavement and dune damage occurred Wednesday night near the Pea Island Visitor Center, but NCDOT had not released revised measurements by October 22.

    Source: Island Free Press

  • Damage

    Dare County reported substantial beach erosion and ocean overwash on side streets from Mirlo Beach through Rodanthe and near the Pea Island Visitor Center.

    Source: Dare County, North Carolina

  • Damage

    Minor ocean overwash occurred on Ocracoke overnight October 21–22, but N.C. 12 remained open and no highway closure was necessary.

    Source: Island Free Press

For one 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
3,742
carried by 8,523 messages (2.28× echo)
Counties reached
1,735
across 48 states and territories
Overnight
957
10pm–6am local · 33 of the most severe
Effective on arrival
99%
take effect the moment they are sent

What was warned about

Alert typeWarningsMessages
Severe Thunderstorm Warning740740
Small Craft Advisory5322,536
Special Weather Statement444445
Flood Warning317317
Flash Flood Warning171171
Flood Advisory167167
Dense Fog Advisory162237
Coastal Flood Advisory117541

Where

StateWarnings
NM678
AZ575
CA253
CO231
AK156
UT146
FL101
NC63

The busiest hour of the period was 6pm local time, with 247 warnings.

Counties reached most often

CountyStateWarnings
SandovalNM155
CoconinoAZ123
NavajoAZ120
CibolaNM117
San JuanNM115
GrahamAZ111
GilaAZ100
McKinleyNM100
San JuanUT89
Rio ArribaNM86

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. 957 arrived between 10pm and 6am, 33 of them at the highest severity.
010020012am: 86 warnings1am: 115 warnings2am: 134 warnings3am: 131 warnings4am: 106 warnings5am: 128 warnings6am: 130 warnings7am: 95 warnings8am: 121 warnings9am: 139 warnings10am: 118 warnings11am: 178 warnings12pm: 151 warnings1pm: 210 warnings2pm: 217 warnings3pm: 243 warnings4pm: 226 warnings5pm: 236 warnings6pm: 247 warnings7pm: 196 warnings8pm: 158 warnings9pm: 120 warnings10pm: 130 warnings11pm: 127 warnings24712am3am6am9am12pm3pm6pm9pmShaded hours are overnight, 10pm to 6am local
View as a table
Local hourWarningsOf which most severe
12am862
1am1151
2am1346
3am1312
4am1063
5am12811
6am1301
7am952
8am1213
9am1397
10am1188
11am17816
12pm1517
1pm2107
2pm21710
3pm24310
4pm22613
5pm23610
6pm2475
7pm19614
8pm1583
9pm1202
10pm1304
11pm1274
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 2.28× — for every warning issued, 2.28 messages carried it. Reporting messages as warnings would overstate this week by 4,781.
Messages received5,244 of them updates to a warning already sent8,523Distinct warningswhat every figure in this report counts3,742Counties reacheda warning usually covers several at once1,735
View as a table
StageCount
Messages received8,523
Of which updates5,244
Of which cancels0
Distinct warnings3,742
Counties reached1,735
Figure 06Embed this chart

How severe they were

Distinct warnings by the severity the issuing agency assigned.
MinorMinor: 1,0481,048ModerateModerate: 939939SevereSevere: 1,5891,589ExtremeExtreme: 151151Not classifiedNot classified: 1515
  • Minor
  • Moderate
  • Severe
  • Extreme
  • Not classified
View as a table
SeverityWarnings
Minor1,048
Moderate939
Severe1,589
Extreme151
Not classified15
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: 1,535 (41.0%)Avoid 41%Shelter: 792 (21.2%)Shelter 21%Follow instructions: 731 (19.5%)Everything else: 684 (18.3%)
  • Avoid
  • Shelter
  • Follow instructions
  • Everything else

Where those instructions came from

  • Shelter (792) — 112 corroborated as flood, 291 corroborated as tornado, 4 corroborated as wildfire, 1 corroborated as hurricane, 384 with no hazard stated in the alert text
  • Evacuate (7) — 6 corroborated as flood, 1 with no hazard stated in the alert text
View as a table
ResponseWarningsShare
Avoid1,53541.0%
Shelter79221.2%
Follow instructions73119.5%
Prepare3449.2%
Monitor2486.6%
Unstated822.2%
Evacuate70.2%
All clear30.1%

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 19, 2026 – OCT 26, 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 19, 2026 and October 26, 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.
  • 46 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 and a tornado hit the Southwest as overwash closes Hatteras roads." Alert Pulse, October 27, 2026. https://bepreparedsolutions.co/reports/alert-pulse/week-2026-10-19
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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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<iframe src="https://bepreparedsolutions.co/reports/alert-pulse/week-2026-10-19/embed/reach_map" width="100%" height="520" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Floods and a tornado hit the Southwest as overwash closes Hatteras roads"></iframe>

The embed updates itself if we publish a correction, so it never goes stale the way a screenshot does.

The CSV carries the same frozen figures as this page, keyed to version 1.

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