It faces hurricanes, heat, drought, rising seas and – as last week showed – deadly floods. But despite the clear need for preventive action, that is not the political mood
The siren system was shut down because the technology was unreliable and giving out way too many false alarms – to the point where the residents were just ignoring it. It is a difficult problem because you need to give enough possible advance warning to evacuate, but not so much that they start tuning it out altogether. Even modern first-world countries struggle with this.
The measure, House Bill 13, would have created a new government council to establish the emergency response plan and administer the grant program, both of which would have been aimed at facilitating better communication between first responders. The bill also called for the plan to include “the use of outdoor warning sirens,” like those used in tornado-prone Texas counties, and develop new “emergency alert systems.”
The technology isn’t unreliable. It’s a question of implementation. It’s a question about money and how much you want to spend refining and improving the software controlling it and surrounding sensors.
The siren system was shut down because the technology was unreliable and giving out way too many false alarms – to the point where the residents were just ignoring it. It is a difficult problem because you need to give enough possible advance warning to evacuate, but not so much that they start tuning it out altogether. Even modern first-world countries struggle with this.
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/06/texas-disaster-warning-emergency-communication-bill-kerrville-floods/
The technology isn’t unreliable. It’s a question of implementation. It’s a question about money and how much you want to spend refining and improving the software controlling it and surrounding sensors.