My understanding is because of the tilt of the Earth the southern hemisphere wouldn't be as affected.
That depends on where the Earth is in its orbit. In northern hemisphere summer the southern hemisphere is a little less vulnerable but in northern hemisphere winter the opposite is true.
And in any case if the major effect is the CME dropping The-Mother-Of-All-Charges on the ionosphere (think of it as a Cosmic Taser) then both day and night sides get it, in both hemispheres, possibly over a day or two.