Aunt of alleged shooter speaks out; Critical Incident Mapping; FEMA flood maps

Georgia Today

LISTEN: On the Monday, Sept. 9 edition of Georgia Today: New revelations about last week's Apalachee High School shooting have some asking if the tragedy could've been prevented; the Savannah school system adopts maps to help first responders during active shooter scenarios; and residents hurt by Tropical Storm Debby ask why their homes weren't included on FEMA flood maps.

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, Sept. 9. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, new revelations about last week's Apalachee High School shooting have some asking if the tragedy could have been prevented. The Savannah school system adopts maps to help first responders during active shooter scenarios, and residents hurt by Tropical Storm Debby ask why their homes weren't included on FEMA flood maps. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: The aunt of the 14-year-old boy who is accused of killing four people at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., last week, says the boy's mother warned the school of a, quote, "extreme emergency" before the killings occurred. Annie Brown confirmed with the Associated Press conversations first reported by The Washington Post, in which the suspect's mother urged the school to immediately find her son. Reports indicate that efforts to find him were initially unsuccessful. The news of the apparent warning has caused outrage among some in the Winder, Ga., community. The mother of one Apalachee High School student says the warnings demonstrate how preventable the shooting was. Rebecca Sayarath told the AP yesterday that the school, quote, "failed its students," but others, including Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, are declining to blame school or law enforcement officials.

Raphael Warnock: I'm not going to, you know, referee or — or second-guess what happened with the authorities the other night. I applaud our first responders. When others are running away from danger, they run toward the danger in order to do the best they can.

Peter Biello: Warnock made those comments on CNN yesterday.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Meanwhile, state officials are mobilizing a response to help the high school's community members in mourning. GPB's Chase McGee reports the Barrow County Community Recovery Center opened today in Winder.

Chase McGee: The Georgia Emergency Management Agency opened the center to help meet people's needs, whether they be financial, legal, spiritual or related to mental health.

James Stallings: A situation like this is something that we have thought about. We've prepared, but we hoped we never had to deploy.

Chase McGee: GEMA director James Stallings says that while they've responded to many natural disasters, this tragedy warrants different resources.

James Stallings: You've got kids that have heard sounds and saw things this week that — you just don't brush that off.

Chase McGee: Stallings is encouraging people to make use of the center if they're not sure they need help. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee in Winder.

Peter Biello: Apalachee High students were allowed to return to the school today to retrieve the things they left behind as they were evacuated last Wednesday. The Barrow County School system hasn't announced when classes at Apalachee will resume. The system's other schools will return tomorrow.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: In the southeastern part of the state, the Savannah Chatham County Public School system is now using military-style maps to help first responders navigate school buildings in the event of an active shooter scenario or other emergency. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

Benjamin Payne: So called "critical incident mapping" is new this year at all 55 public schools in Savannah and Chatham County. The district consulted with special operations veterans at a firm called Critical Response Group to convert old technical blueprints into clearly labeled, easy-to-read maps. Justin Pratt is emergency manager for the Savannah Chatham County Public School system.

Justin Pratt: You don't have to have some sort of technical baseline of how to read a blueprint to figure out where something is on the map. They've got a great reference system, so it's essentially the old school lining up G-10, like "Battleship"-style.

Benjamin Payne: Many schools in the U.S. are resorting to alternative safety measures, like critical incident mapping, to better respond to mass shootings. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Caption

Tropical Storm Debby

Story 4:

Peter Biello: A month after Tropical Storm Debby landed on Georgia's coast, many residents there are still dealing with flooded homes. They're also wondering why their streets weren't included on maps that would have required them to get flood insurance. Nearly 11 inches of rain fell over four days in Savannah, causing widespread flood damage even in areas deemed at lower risk for flooding. Researcher Kait Morano of Georgia Tech's Coastal Equity and Resilience Hub, says rising sea levels and sprawling development contributed to the disaster, but so did outdated maps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Kait Morano: Many of the structures that were flooded are outside of FEMA's flood zones. You know, that's because those zones are based on historical data. And so people believe that they don't need flood insurance.

Peter Biello: An insurance agent suggests flood insurance pricing as an indication of risk. He says 1 in 4 flood claims come from FEMA zones that don't require insurance to get a mortgage.

Story 5:

Peter Biello: The president and CEO of Waffle House has died. Walt Ehmer led the Atlanta-based restaurant chain since 2002. He was also a member of the Atlanta Police Foundation's board of directors, among numerous other organizations that he championed. The company said yesterday he died after a long illness. He was 58 years old.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: Norfolk Southern is confirming its CEO is under investigation for potential ethical lapses. A spokesperson for the Atlanta-based railroad declined to offer any additional details today about the allegations against CEO Alan Shaw. He's led the company since May of 2022 and has been under tremendous pressure dealing with the railroad's chemical fire in Ohio and an activist investor aimed at ousting him.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: A nearly century-old Atlanta restaurant has new owners, and they've vowed not to make any major changes. The previous owners of The Colonnade put the iconic eatery, known for its fried chicken and Southern staples, up for sale in August. A statement today says the new owners are longtime regulars, including one who's been coming to the restaurant for six decades. Louis Jeffries and Paul Donohue also own an Atlanta bar, Lingering Shade Social Club. The Colonnade opened in 1927 and has had only two previous owners, becoming a connection to bygone times for many Atlanta residents.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: The Carter Center is adding more celebrities and musical artists to a celebration planned for Jimmy Carter's 100th birthday. The organization says the event next week now will include the iconic Georgia rock band The B-52s and four-time Grammy Award singer India.Arie, among others. The celebration is scheduled to take place and be recorded for later broadcast at Atlanta's historic Fox Theater on Sept. 17, ahead of Carter's birthday on Oct. 1.

Caption

Brian Snitker

Credit: Peter Biello / GPB News

Story 9:

Peter Biello: In sports: In baseball, Braves manager Brian Snitker describes yesterday's matchup between Atlanta and the Toronto Blue Jays this way.

Brian Snitker: That was probably the top two or three most draining games I've ever been a part of.

Peter Biello: Draining because it took 11 innings for the Braves to finally defeat the Jays, 4 to 3. Catcher Shaun Murphy drove in rookie Eli White to score the winning run. Here's Eli White.

Eli White: Obviously, speed's one of my skill sets, so anytime I get a chance to kind of show that off and help the team there, that was — that was really cool. And to do it in that situation was really big.

Peter Biello: Chris Sale threw 113 pitches over six scoreless innings, giving up only two hits and striking out seven. Sale is currently leading the National League in wins, ERA and strikeouts, but he sidestepped questions from reporters about the possibility of landing the Cy Young Award, a top honor for pitchers.

Chris Sale: I'd like to be in line to win the World Series. That's — that's about it. This time of year, we just need to win games.

Peter Biello: With yesterday's win, the Braves tied the Mets for the third wild card spot. The Braves hope to improve on their record as they face the Reds tonight at Truist Park.

In racing, Joey Logano raced his way into the second round of NASCAR's playoffs by winning the opener in overtime at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Logano is the only two-time Cup Series champion in the 16-driver playoff field.

In the NFL, a season of high expectations began with a thud for the Atlanta Falcons. Kirk Cousins struggled in his debut as the Pittsburgh Steelers prevailed 18-10 yesterday. Cousins threw for only 155 yards with two interceptions. Falcons also lost a fumble while the Steelers didn't have any turnovers. The Falcons travel to Philadelphia Monday the 16th to face the Eagles, then return home for another primetime game on the 22nd against the Kansas City Chiefs, the two-time reigning Super Bowl champions. In college football, Carson Beck threw five touchdown passes as the No. 1 Bulldogs beat Tennessee Tech 48 to 3 on Saturday. Beck's five touchdown passes matched a school record that had been done seven other times, most recently by Stetson Bennett in 2021. JC French threw two touchdown passes and Georgia Southern's defense stood up in the fourth quarter to edge Nevada, 20 to 17 on Saturday, and Syracuse beat Georgia Tech 31 to 28.

And that's it for this edition of Georgia Today. Thanks so much for tuning in. We hope you had a great weekend.If you want to stay up to date on all these stories, especially the story on the Apalachee school shooting, which is an evolving story, check out our website, GPB.org/news. And remember also to subscribe to this podcast. It's a great way to keep up with everything that's going on in the state. Just subscribe wherever you get your podcasts; wherever you're listening right now, you can subscribe. And if you've got feedback, we would love to hear from you. Send us an email. The address is [e-mail]. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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For more on these stories and more, go to GPB.org/news