Wireless Emergency Alerts system was used for the Texas floods – but several problems

Authorities came under fire when it was suggested there were no warnings of the flash floods in Texas, which resulted in at least 120 lives being lost, with many more people still missing.

In fact, the Wireless Emergency Alerts system was used to send multiple warnings, but a number of issues meant that many Texans didn’t receive them or act on them – and a new report suggests that’s a hard problem to fix …

Texas flood tragedy

CNN reports that 120 people are confirmed to have died, and that this number is likely to rise significantly given the numbers still missing.

At least 150 people are known to be missing in Kerr County as a result of the flooding in Central Texas, according to officials. At least a dozen others are missing in other parts of the state. Authorities confirmed today that 120 people have died.

The Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) system

FEMA and the FCC jointly created a Wireless Emergency Alerts system intended to warn people of imminent threat to life. These can be directed to all phones within a specific geographic area, or across the US.

WEA messages are sent to every smartphone that is powered on and within range of a cellular tower, regardless of whether or not it has coverage on its own network. Alerts also sound even if a phone has been silenced or placed in Do Not Disturb mode.

When a message is received, a loud siren sounds, the phone vibrates, and the message appears on the screen. You may recall a nationwide test back in 2023.

The WEA was used, but there were problems

Many of those in areas affected by the flooding say they never received a warning. A new report says that WEA warning were sent, but there were a number of reasons people may not have received them.

One obvious one is that not everyone may be in range of a cellphone tower. But another key issue is that, while everyone receives the alerts by default, you can choose to opt out of state ones. The WSJ reports that “alert fatigue” means many have chosen to do so.

A 2024 RAND report found Texas cellphone users opted out of wireless emergency alerts at the highest rate. Nearly 30% of Texans chose to turn off at least one kind of wireless alert, a choice researchers partly attributed to exhaustion from the large number of statewide alerts.

One statewide alert last October about a man wanted for allegedly shooting a police chief in the Texas Panhandle went out before 5 a.m., prompting thousands of complaints to the Federal Communications Commission.

Flash floods are particularly difficult to predict, meaning people may receive multiple alerts for floods that don’t happen, leading them to be taken less seriously.

One fix is on the way

One problem can be fixed: people opting out because they don’t want to be woken by a loud siren in the early hours for a problem that doesn’t affect them.

The FCC is working on changes that would let authorities send muted or vibrate-only notifications in less-dire situations. 

That change will take time, however, and isn’t expected to take effect until 2028.

Image: UK government