It was deployed, it sounds like he just wasn't aware of it. For instance, the Carolina Emergency Response Team was coordinating private helicopter assistance from Hickory airport.
AFAICT from TFA, it looks like this cell could only have been active from Sept. 30th, as it was when the no-flight zone was removed. IIUC, the guy started its stuff the 28th, and the incident happened the 29th.
The cell was active before, CERT is assisting it, not replacing it. The article doesn't provide the necessary background information on when it started operations, only when the subject of the article became aware of it.
> The cell was active before
Then why was a no-fly zone set up? That sounds pretty counter-productive?
Not really. The no-fly zone still allows for military flights and any flights authorised by them or whoever else is performing the air traffic coordination.