Texas Flooding

[LuvOrlando]

I am still watching this on the news and somehow just can't fathom how, in the US in 2025, this sort of an event can be even possible.

How was there no blaring alerts from people's phones or from a warning device of some sort on the campground when the water started to gather upriver giving people time to at least gather for upper ground? I mean there is now Starlink now, which the US helped fund, and that is meant to reach the most remote parts of the planet and yet SOMEHOW US campgrounds don't have at least one random device that would sound an alarm for natural disasters.... how????? I just can't wrap my head around the profound disconnect.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

It's her phone and how it disperse information... what she saw was the previous week rescue of the girls at a different camp..this flooding has been going on for awhile though not in the horrible photos we have seen and yesterday footage of the barracks like sleeping quarters... when she saw the previous week flood rescue photo the girls crammed into the truck she thought it was the missing 20 AND told me so...so I search and found the previous week photo but no reference to the 20.. AND she wouldn't take redirect to see what she was seeing

Please make her understand that this is very real and involves many more than just those poor little girls. A teacher from my girls' high school is among the deceased and his wife and son are still among the missing. His missing son attended middle school with several kids we also know.

 

[Skippy918]

I am still watching this on the news and somehow just can't fathom how, in the US in 2025, this sort of an event can be even possible.

How was there no blaring alerts from people's phones or from a warning device of some sort on the campground when the water started to gather upriver giving people time to at least gather for upper ground? I mean there is now Starlink now, which the US helped fund, and that is meant to reach the most remote parts of the planet and yet SOMEHOW US campgrounds don't have at least one random device that would sound an alarm for natural disasters.... how????? I just can't wrap my head around the profound disconnect.

The alerts happened in the middle of the night when everyone is sleeping. If your phone is on silent, you won’t hear the alert.

 

[Marrila]

The alerts happened in the middle of the night when everyone is sleeping. If your phone is on silent, you won’t hear the alert.

That actually isn't always true. You can set a phone alert that overrides silent.
I use a phone app unWX that does a great job of alerting me to tornado warnings and severe thunderstorms warnings. It's set for flood alerts as well.

 

[irlandaise]

That actually isn't always true. You can set a phone alert that overrides silent.
I use a phone app unWX that does a great job of alerting me to tornado warnings and severe thunderstorms warnings. It's set for flood alerts as well.

Also, the federal Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system is a separate protocol from text messages and overrides a phone's silent setting.

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/wireless-emergency-alerts

I don't know whether any WEA alerts were sent out in this flood emergency.

 

[hardcorestitch]

I am still watching this on the news and somehow just can't fathom how, in the US in 2025, this sort of an event can be even possible.

How was there no blaring alerts from people's phones or from a warning device of some sort on the campground when the water started to gather upriver giving people time to at least gather for upper ground? I mean there is now Starlink now, which the US helped fund, and that is meant to reach the most remote parts of the planet and yet SOMEHOW US campgrounds don't have at least one random device that would sound an alarm for natural disasters.... how????? I just can't wrap my head around the profound disconnect.

All for the purpose of “work ethics”. Unfortunately today’s phones are more than what they used to be.

 

[irlandaise]

I am still watching this on the news and somehow just can't fathom how, in the US in 2025, this sort of an event can be even possible.

How was there no blaring alerts from people's phones or from a warning device of some sort on the campground when the water started to gather upriver giving people time to at least gather for upper ground? I mean there is now Starlink now, which the US helped fund, and that is meant to reach the most remote parts of the planet and yet SOMEHOW US campgrounds don't have at least one random device that would sound an alarm for natural disasters.... how????? I just can't wrap my head around the profound disconnect.

Texas lawmakers failed to pass a bill to improve local disaster warning systems this year

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.”

And specifically in Kerr County:

Officials Feared Flood Risk to Youth Camps but Rejected Warning System

One commissioner at the time, H.A. “Buster” Baldwin, voted against a $50,000 engineering study, according to a news account at the time, saying, “I think this whole thing is a little extravagant for Kerr County, with sirens and such.”

 

[LuvOrlando]

The alerts happened in the middle of the night when everyone is sleeping. If your phone is on silent, you won’t hear the alert.

But how can an entire campsite be on silent? I know it is the story but that just makes no sense. If such a thing sounded anywhere in the area a ton of people would have heard it and been annoyed or woken up. Soooo many people have insomnia and many are just very light sleepers, those alerts make enough noise to startle the majority.

Texas lawmakers failed to pass a bill to improve local disaster warning systems this year

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.”

And specifically in Kerr County:

Officials Feared Flood Risk to Youth Camps but Rejected Warning System

One commissioner at the time, H.A. “Buster” Baldwin, voted against a $50,000 engineering study, according to a news account at the time, saying, “I think this whole thing is a little extravagant for Kerr County, with sirens and such.”

O M G

I understand small town politics because I raised my kids in a small town in PA where there was an actual uproar over putting in sidewalks with tax money. The battle cry was mostly because, "Never had 'em before so we don't need 'em now." I was stunned when I would hear it because, to me, sidewalks are a basic safety issue and yet it was quite upsetting to many. I am from NYC and lived in the small town and paid taxes for ages but still an outsider, so that is how that went.

Sometimes the state just needs to step in for the majority, terrible that this could have been avoided with a little more thought.

 

[RangerPooh]

Well... it's a big can of worms... though your observations are very specific to a valid concern ... your post is lengthy so pulled out some words... protocol... procedure... proactivity

I'm always sharing to folks those 3 words about the earthquake coming to Yuma and Willamette valley Oregon and all I get is grief..my vehicle has been earthquake ready for 15 years ever since the experts came from Japan and alerted Oregon... the quake will be beyond your imagination.... this is an emergency!!!

Well citrus they tell me... it's just a possibility... And not of concern to us...

My husband and I grew up in California and experienced our fair share of earthquakes, including Loma Prieta and Northridge. We’ve both also worked in wildland fire, so preparedness is second nature to us.

We later lived on the Washington coast, where we experienced tsunami alerts following earthquakes near Japan and Indonesia. Living just a block from the ocean on a peninsula with only one road out, we always had our bug-out bags ready.

My husband has also worked for the Red Cross and has been deployed for international disaster relief. Some people think we're overly cautious—but really, we're just prepared for the inevitable. It certainly helps that our whole family is involved in Scouting. We stay ready. Heck we have a group of friends (ya... all scouts) who in the event of an emergency we're good to bug out.

 

[citruscurtis]

never done it and don't plan to

Cherry pie?

SOMEHOW US campgrounds don't have at least one random device that would sound an alarm for natural disasters.... how????? I just can't wrap my head around the profound disconnect.

So what is your car trunk right now to survive for 3 days??

The disconnect that we all have is that we think this is was a natural disaster...it isn't..it is a catastrophic phenomenal event .. the flooding of the river happens frequently... news has eye witnesses who said we were standing there watching a normal flood....then came the volume...the flash flood.. something they had never witnessed on the river

 

[citruscurtis]

Mt st Helens was not a natural disaster...it was a catastrophic phenomenal event... months in the making.. months of warning...well.. folks didn't feel concerned or prepare

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The alerts happened in the middle of the night when everyone is sleeping. If your phone is on silent, you won’t hear the alert.

It depends on what the text message is in order to bypass your phone settings.

For example if the alert is from my county's emergency system that I voluntarily signed up for it will not make a sound if my phone is on silent (unless like the PP mentioned you put on specific settings) and just come through as a normal text.

However, amber alerts, silver alerts and the blue alert (all together public safety alerts), the Presidential text message sent out (I forget when those were), as well as the "Imminent Extreme Alert" text message my state sent out in early January when we had a large snow and ice storm (which was to tell people not to get out on the road period unless they really have to). All sounded and vibrated my phone despite my phone being on silent or no setting changed to allow for it. The timing however of that is often dependent on your cell carrier and your service (meaning do you have signal). My husband and I are on two different carriers and we don't always get alerts at the same time.

 

[Mizzoufan]

This is so heartbreaking. That fear those poor little girls felt. Im praying so hard for the families

 

[citruscurtis]

This is so heartbreaking. That fear those poor little girls felt. Im praying so hard for the families

A very heartfelt.. heavy heart observation... but also a dangerous one.. After the tsunami in Japan.. the state of Oregon and constant TV shows and News coverage told us there is no reaction time to the tsunami...it will be upon you... just like Japan with it's extensive tsunami warning system... there was no time... all those cars driving along the roads with jetty mounds. Oregon...to minimize.. not sure what..has extensive signage where to go...up steep hills and single lane roads.. when I visited the beach I always went into casino for a book of matches... to start the fire at the tip of the mountain I ran up

 

[Christine]

Not sure how this effects phone warning alerts, but I was watching the news tonight and it was reported that many of these campgrounds in Texas have poor to no cell service.

 

[irlandaise]

Not sure how this effects phone warning alerts, but I was watching the news tonight and it was reported that many of these campgrounds in Texas have poor to no cell service.

Text messages need a lot less bandwidth than voice calls, so they can sometimes get through to and from areas with degraded cell service, but yeah, at some point even they won't work.