Isn't the fact that the 911 call center was overwhelmed the most concerning, but least surprising, part of this story?

Imagine trying to get through if you're the 263rd caller after a region wide event of life-threatening importance.

Like the rest of us, and virtually all of our institutions, 911 centers don't do "surge" all that well; they don't have several dozen under-utilized call center employees sitting around watching TV waiting to to be needed, nor necessarily even the number of phone lines to handle to the volume in such an event.

I haven't' seen reported what the call-center's response to callers was; or when the call-center became aware that the noise was a sonic boom. Did NORAD notify the call-center when the F-15s were scrambled and authorized to go afterburner? If not routinely communicated, it would have been a kindness to all concerned.