Texas floods: 173 still missing statewide; more question whether sirens would have helpedNational & International News -

Texas floods: At least 120 dead, 173 still missing statewide. In 2016, Kerr County debated a flooding alarm system, but ultimately decided against it. Now many are questioning whether such a system would have saved lives.

Texas floods: 173 still missing statewide; more question whether sirens would have helped

The death toll from the sweeping floods that affected 6 Texas Hill Country counties last Friday now stands at 120. The number of missing and unaccounted for seems to have gone up day by day as well as officials and responders take in the scope of the disaster. According to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, 173 people are missing across the affected area. More than 160 of them are missing from Kerr County alone, which took the brunt of the storm surge along the Guadalupe River.

Rescuers say that none of the missing from Kerr County has been found alive since Friday. Still, both volunteer and professional rescue and recovery missions continue even as the affected communities mourn. The tragedy has only been compounded by the fact that so many of the dead and missing are young children.

Debate over siren alert systems

Officials, politicians, and commentators continue to grapple with key questions: what could we have done differently to at least mitigate this disaster, and how can such tragedies be averted in the future?

Some of the focus remains on federal cuts under the Trump administration to both the National Weather Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. During a Cabinet meeting yesterday, President Trump shied away from talking about his plan to phase out FEMA, though he didn’t given any indication that he had reconsidered. However, an increasing level of focus has zeroed in on early warning systems and other emergency management procedures in the affected counties themselves.

Back in 2016, former Kerr County Commissioner (2012-2021) Tom Moser advocated for building a sophisticated flood warning system for the county. The project never got off the ground due to its over $1 million price tag as well as public pushback. Speaking to NPR, Moser said that residents were not keen on the idea of a siren system because of concerns over false alarms. Residents also balked at the cost, and even after spending years applying, Moser and others commissioners were unsuccessful securing grants to fund the project.

While Moser does not believe such an alarm system would have saved everyone had it been in place, certainly some lives would have been saved. Moser, a longtime project manager for NASA, also believes that existing and emerging technologies like AI can be used to create sophisticated warning systems that could be implemented quickly and be relatively cost-effective.