Press release from the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association:
The Statewide Disaster Assistance Network (SDAN) is a program created and operated by the North Carolina
Sheriffs’ Association to allow sheriffs’ offices across the state to request and offer aid to other sheriffs in the
event of a disaster. In coordination with North Carolina Emergency Management, the North Carolina Sheriffs’
Association manages resources requested and offered by sheriffs’ offices across the state.
Through SDAN, the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association is continuing to successfully coordinate a recovery
response to Western North Carolina counties that were impacted by the devastating Hurricane Helene.
SDAN was activated by North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association President Sheriff Mike Roberson of Chatham
County on Thursday, September 26
th as Hurricane Helene left a path of destruction in its wake in 27 Western
North Carolina Counties. The impact on Western North Carolina was catastrophic as the storm brought heavy
rainfall and wind, causing widespread flash flooding, mudslides, and extremely dangerous, life-threatening
conditions.
Sheriff Roberson explained, “We knew immediately that this storm would have a massive impact in our state.
The effects have been like nothing we have seen in the recent past. Activating the Statewide Disaster
Assistance Network allowed the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association to begin working right away to coordinate
resources and let sheriffs’ offices from around the state get assistance to those counties impacted as soon as
possible.”
Emergency services in Western North Carolina have been overwhelmed with the countless calls for service
and requests for help from their citizens. Thanks to coordination from the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association’s
SDAN, as of today, 78 sheriffs’ offices from across North Carolina have sent much needed personnel and
equipment to Western North Carolina. This includes 578 deputies, 18 detention officers, and 18
telecommunicators. SDAN has also coordinated the relocation of almost 350 county jail inmates to other
county jails.
Sheriffs’ offices also provided a variety of rescue equipment to the area, including aerial and underwater
drones, helicopters, tactical Bearcat vehicles, utility terrain vehicles (UTVs), generators, high-water vehicles,
and more.
Personnel at the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association headquarters in Raleigh have been working around the
clock each day since SDAN was activated to make sure that deputies, detention officers and
telecommunicators have been dispatched immediately to sheriffs’ offices in the mountain counties in need.
The NCSA SDAN program will continue to do so as long as there is a need for assistance.
Sheriffs from impacted counties have expressed their gratitude for the assistance from SDAN and their fellow
sheriffs in the wake of tragedy. Sheriff Len Hagaman of Watauga County commented, “I am once again
amazed and am so very blessed for everyone on the NCSA team … We are now both ‘Watauga and NCSA
Strong.’”
Sheriff Ricky Buchanan of McDowell County said, “With the help of sheriffs and deputy sheriffs from across
the state, we have been able to maintain an increased law enforcement presence in our county, 24-7, since
this disaster occurred. This has allowed us to focus our attention on those hit hardest by this disaster.”
Hurricane Helene has become the second-deadliest hurricane to hit the mainland United States since
Hurricane Katrina in 2005, with a confirmed death toll of at least 231 people across six states. That number
is still expected to climb as recovery efforts continue to take place. More than 100 of those deaths were in
North Carolina, including two sheriff’s deputies – one from the Macon County Sheriff’s Office, and another
from the Madison County Sheriff’s Office.
Founded in 1922, the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association is a statewide not-for-profit professional and
educational organization of our state’s 100 sheriffs. Through their Association, sheriffs work to strengthen the
law enforcement profession and services their offices provide to the people of North Carolina.
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