But for all the work they did, government agencies failed for hours to use major warning systems to alert the general public of the danger.

As a result, many people slept through the disaster, not knowing about the 2:40 a.m. wreck and chemical leak until they awoke near dawn and turned on the television and radio.

It is unknown whether using the warning systems would have saved lives or reduced injuries in Graniteville.

Still, government warnings are designed - and depended upon - to officially tell people of danger and how to respond.

Two of the three warning systems that did not activate immediately would have awakened people who were asleep.

Nine people died, including a man in his home, after a chlorine cloud wafted from the wrecked Norfolk Southern train. The first government warning didn't go out for more than two hours after the wreck, according to state, local and federal agencies.

Another came almost four hours after the accident.

Vincent Van Brunt, a USC professor and expert on chemical safety, said emergency service officials must learn from this past week's disaster response efforts.

"Obviously, some lessons will be learned," he said. "They will be able to use this as a basis for other responses."

Government officials defend their actions, but said the warning systems will likely be examined as agencies critique their performances.

"The earlier the warning, the better, certainly," state emergency management official Joe Farmer said, adding that his agency will at some point review its performance.

Farmer, a spokesman for the S.C. Emergency Preparedness Division, said his agency reacted as quickly as possible to the information it was provided.

According to interviews with the EPD and other agencies, The State was told of three warning systems that took hours to activate after the 2:40 a.m. accident:

-- The Emergency Alert System, used by the state EPD to warn local media. Notice went to the media at 5:09 a.m., triggering emergency broadcasts, Farmer said.

-- The National Weather Service's weather radio system. Notice was sent out at 6:01 a.m., two service officials said. This system emits a loud noise through weather band radios that will awaken people who have them in their house.

-- Aiken County's "reverse 911" system. The system calls homes in danger zones to leave warning messages, meaning anyone asleep would have been awakened by the ringing of a phone. It was activated at 6:27 a.m. for 3,600 homes, Aiken County Emergency Management coordinator David Ruth said.

Ruth said his office worked to get the word out through the reverse 911, but it took time to assess the disaster and set up the system. It was the first time the county had used the system in an emergency since installing it about a year ago, he said.

"We got this out as quickly as we possibly could," said Ruth, who also had to set up an emergency operations center on short notice. "But first you have to assess what the problem is. You go from there and make an assessment on what people need to do."

In this case, that meant deciding whether to tell people to evacuate or stay in their homes and close the windows.

The message that went out was mixed.

The 5:09 a.m. emergency message to the broadcast media told residents to evacuate.

Later, when the county made reverse 911 calls just before 6:30 a.m., the advice was for people to stay in their houses. Whether they had been called and awakened or not, the effect of that message, since most people were asleep, was the same: they stayed at home, Ruth said.

There was debate about the right thing to tell people to do.

Ruth said the new system will take work to master. "It's one of those things you need to drill on a little bit more," he said.

Farmer said the 5:09 a.m. notice his office sent out came within an hour of receiving a request from Aiken County.

But he said Aiken County didn't notify the S.C. Emergency Preparedness Division until about two hours after the wreck and chlorine leak.

The National Weather Service put warnings on weather radio at 6:01 a.m., after a request from Aiken County, the service's Bernie Palmer said. The service had to retransmit about a half hour later because some people might not have gotten the message. The initial alert went to the wrong radio transmitter, he said.

MEDIA THERE EARLY

Although many people slept through the early morning disaster, those who were awake could have learned about it from television before government warning systems were activated.

Local television stations independently had found out about the accident. Hearing the crackle of police scanners, stations such as WRDW-TV in Augusta were broadcasting news of the event by 4:15 a.m., station officials said.

Nonetheless, official notice from the government is what verifies the threat and tells people what they need to do, said officials with WBBQ-FM. And at some radio stations, the alert will break into programming immediately.

"It's extremely important getting information from the official sources," said Danny Messano, an official with WBBQ. "You want the message to be conveyed exactly as they put it out."

WBBQ is a primary station in the Aiken-Augusta area for receiving emergency alert system broadcasts. It gets emergency alert messages on a receiver, which then retransmits the signal to other Aiken-Augusta area radio and TV stations.

SIRENS, REVERSE 911

Farmer said the state thinks the automated telephone system used by Aiken County officials is one of the best routes to notify the public of a disaster or accident. The emergency preparedness division is seeking to provide the service statewide in South Carolina, he said.

Now, the system is available only sporadically. In addition to Aiken County, those with the system include Richland County.

Richland has used its system to alert residents to neighborhood crime trends and to get out news about jail escapees, missing children and senior citizens, mock disaster drills and the possible presence of old mustard gas canisters in a Northeast neighborhood.

Aiken County officials could have notified residents sooner if they had a system of sirens, but few S.C. counties use them.

"We have not for years advocated sirens as cost effective," Farmer said. "Where they do exist, the public is typically not well educated with regard to what they mean."

Officials in Oklahoma and in Spartanburg County said their siren systems are effective ways of letting the public know of some potential danger. The sound is an additional tool intended to alert people to watch television or listen to the radio, officials said.

That's particularly important for people who are not near a TV or radio during parts of the day, such as those driving in cars, at work, visiting parks or walking down the street, officials said.

Marybeth Solesbee, director of Spartanburg County's emergency preparedness division, said it costs $10,000 to $12,000 per siren to purchase and install. But she said the 61-siren system helps warn people of tornadoes and national emergencies. She said she likely would use the sirens for a major chemical spill, such as the one at Graniteville.

"We would use every means we have when it's needed," she said. "I do think they are necessary."