Having worked 911 & police/fire/EMS dispatch radios during a hurricane & in the aftermath (& one no where near as catastrophic as Harvey), I can tell you that everyone is working as hard as they can and dealing with stuff you would never imagine having to deal with. When I was dispatching fire resources (lots of downed power line calls in addition to everything else), my ‘alert’ to dispatch calls was constant - I ended up standing the whole shift with a battalion chief sitting across from me telling me what was out there to send ... brush trucks, stuff I’d never had to dispatch. One of my trainers, when I started the shift, was on a nearby tac radio and he looked over and said very calmly “one call at a time - one call at time” and that kept me calm as the alerts were going off constantly.
Lots of IDIOTS call in and tie up the lines, just unbelievable. One guy called in to complain that an ice cream truck was in his neighborhood playing repeatedly “When the Saints Come Marching In”, it was driving him crazy & he wanted a police officer out there. Our officers were handling emergencies & even the plain clothes guys were in uniform, directing traffic at major intersections because all the traffic lights were out. Then you had people calling in with situations where there are bodies being discovered (had that call & remarkably ended up talking to the deceased’s brother when he called in the next day) .... people who cannot get medical help for some reason and then you have the run-of-the-mill (so to speak) heart attacks, strokes, injuries, etc.
Best advice I can give - be prepared to take care of yourself. Have supplies for a minimum of a week, two or more is better. Have medicines on hand, extra gas, water, etc. Have a first aid kit so that you can handle minor medical emergencies. If it’s going to be bad and you can evacuate to friends/family, please do it. If you absolutely HAVE to call 911, be patient and realize that the people who are answering the phones are under EXTREME stress, they’re likely lacking sleep, the calls are overwhelming (emotionally at times, too) & that’s one job you don’t do for the money.
Not surprised.this is the age when you call 911 over mcnuggets