COMAL COUNTY, Texas – Sirens echoed throughout Comal County on Thursday as part of a routine test of the area’s emergency alert system, designed to warn residents of potential dangers along the Guadalupe River.
Those warning sirens were tested on Tuesday.
Comal County has had the sirens for 10 years.
“Face it. We live in flash flood alley, and we know that,” Jeff Kelly, the emergency management coordinator for Comal County, said. “And the system that was here before was a good system, it just reached the end of its life.”
It’s why Comal County spent $1.9 million on updating the antiquated system over the past year.
Nine warning sirens are in place along the Guadalupe River, some are at low and high river crossings and others are in heavily populated areas. By the end of the year, 10 sirens will be in place.
Kelly said the testing will occur every couple of weeks, and eventually monthly to ensure they are all working.
“It’s incredibly important, it’s crucial,” Kelly said. “I believe that over the life of the old sirens and this new system that they have already been responsible for saving lives.”
The sirens require testing because they can sustain damage during major flooding events. For instance, at Rebecca Creek, a tree tore off the sensor when water levels rose five feet above the bridge on July 5, yet the siren still works.
Rivergoers Zsanette and Madison Mitchell said sirens are more reliable than cell phone notifications. The cousins said they were camping along the lake in San Angelo on the July 4 weekend when rain hit the area.
“I got the flood notification on my phone that we were in a flood watch, disregarded it,” Zsanatte Mitchell said. “You know, another 100 miles down the road or less than that, I want to say in Kerrville, we would’ve been just the same. Played out very differently, yeah.”
They didn’t mind hearing the testing while enjoying the river on Thursday, because they said safety is a priority.
“One thousand percent to have the sirens because just like what unfortunately happened, you can’t hear the water rising,” Madison Mitchell said.
“You are not going to know that there is a 26-foot wall coming your way,” Zsanatte Mitchell said.
“Yeah, exactly, without that siren, without those notifications on your phones. So for that, we are grateful,” Madison Mitchell said.
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