In a state where hurricanes, tornadoes and flash floods are a constant threat, the shrill tone of an emergency alert is supposed to cut through the noise. But for many Texans, those urgent warnings now compete with countless other pings and buzzes from their phones — and too often get ignored, experts say.
According to Jeannette Sutton, a professor at the University at Albany who researches crisis communication and emergency warnings, the growing number of notifications competing for people's attention is weakening the impact of lifesaving alerts.
There are National Weather Service alerts for severe storms like floods or tornadoes. There are also Blue Alerts, which notify the public when an officer has been hurt or killed and authorities are searching for a person of interest, and missing child notifications called Amber Alerts.
"It's a real problem that we haven't quite sorted out, especially as so many different kinds of warnings come through the same channel," Sutton said. "You get warnings for a Blue Alert through the same channel as a tornado alert, as a flash flood message, as an Amber Alert."
Most Kerr County residents were probably asleep when a wall of water tore down the Guadalupe River early July 4.
Alice Claiborne, who was celebrating the holiday with family along the river, told the Houston Chronicle her phone went off just after 1 a.m. She quickly went back to sleep, thinking the sudden noise came from an Amber Alert — which sounds the same as other warnings. It wasn't until hours later, after more alerts arrived, that she realized the river had surged.
"When we receive alerts, it's within this much broader milieu of alerts and notifications that we get on our cellphones continuously all day long," Sutton said. "We have to decide every single time we get that message whether or not it's meaningful."
Timing is only part of the challenge. Many people simply don't know what the alerts actually mean, or what they're supposed to do with them. A 2018 National Weather Service survey found that public understanding of common weather warnings was low and inconsistent.
For nearly half of the warning terms tested, from winter storm warnings to flash flood emergencies, only about half the people surveyed knew exactly what the alert meant and what action to take. Some terms, including more specialized ones like flood advisories, were correctly understood by fewer than 30% of people.
Sutton said some of this confusion could be reduced if more people signed up for their local community's alert systems like CodeRED, Kerr County's opt-in alert system, which can send messages by cellphone, landline or email — hopefully making them stand out from everyday phone notifications. But according to FEMA's 2024 National Household Survey, only 32% of Americans said they signed up for local alerts last year, though Sutton notes that number can vary widely by community.
State lawmakers are also facing calls to strengthen emergency communications; they're reconvening Monday for a special legislative session. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has already proposed installing warning sirens along the Guadalupe River.
"It's possible that that would've saved some of these lives," Patrick said on Fox News last week, adding that he hopes to have sirens in place by next summer.
But Sutton warns that fixing how alerts are delivered and received is about more than just new technology — it requires a cultural shift.
"[Residents] do need to be aware of the warning systems that are in their community," Sutton said. "They need to sign up for warning systems, and they need to keep their wireless emergency alerts opted in."
Texans can check their phone settings to be sure emergency alerts are turned on. Most smartphones have this under "Notifications" — look for "Emergency" or "Government Alerts" and make sure emergency and public safety warnings are enabled.
People can also sign up for local community alert systems, like CodeRED, which serves more than 10,000 communities throughout the U.S. In areas with poor cell service, backup options like weather radios can help people stay informed.
"There will be a time when the message actually is meaningful to you," Sutton said.
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