An over-abundance of alerts, experts caution, may be drowning out urgent warnings of impending danger. The catastrophic flooding in Texas Hill Country in the early morning hours of July 4, which claimed the lives of at least 132 people, has raised serious concerns how to distinguish critical warnings from less urgent alerts.
As Texas Public Radio reports, when heavy rain sent a wall of water rushing down the Guadalupe River, many people recount sleeping through the alerts buzzing on their phones. That’s largely because most of the alerts sound the same, whether it be for missing or abducted children, injured police officers or severe storms.
Crisis communication expert Jeannette Sutton, PhD, says too many warnings get lost in the daily noise. “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 says Texans should double-check their phone settings, sign up for local alerts and know how to react when that warning comes. "Because there will be a time when the message actually is meaningful to you.”
Today’s smartphones allow users to customize emergency alert sounds or vibrations for different warnings, simply by navigating to a device’s settings app, and making changes in the emergency alerts section. Sutton suggests that if more people sign up for their local community’s alert systems like CodeRED, Kerr County’s opt-in alert system, it can send messages by cellphone, landline or email, to help them stand out from everyday phone notifications.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 2024 National Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness, however, reveals that only 32% of respondents reported signing up for alerts and warnings last year. When the Texas special legislative session gets underway on Monday, July 21, state lawmakers will address how to improve warning systems to avoid another flash flooding tragedy seen earlier this month in Central Texas. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has already suggested installing warning sirens along the Guadalupe River.
