KERR COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Because the search and restoration continues in Kerry County, the problem of emergency sirens has turn out to be a spotlight each domestically and throughout the nation.
Emergency response specialists ABC13 spoke to say sirens should not helpful in massive cities like Houston, the place know-how and in depth media protection can be found. However for smaller communities devastated in Kerr County, specialists say sirens can certainly make a distinction.
In 2016, then Kerr County Commissioner Tom Moser tried to put in an emergency siren system. He was motivated, he says, by the devastating floods in Wimberley, TX, in 2015.
“I visited Wimberley,” Moser stated right this moment in an interview, and he returned to Kerr County with the intent of getting a siren system in place.
Nearly instantly, Moser says, his push for audible sirens was met with resistance.
“One of many issues that got here out of the assembly is that folks didn’t need sirens all through the Hill Nation,” Moser recalled. “Despite the fact that they have been noting it was more durable to speak with folks, that was a non-starter, so we took that out of something having to do with sirens.”
As a substitute, Moser stated he and different commissioners tried to get a flood gauge system handed. Nonetheless, once they tried to safe state funding for the extra modest challenge, they have been rebuffed.
“We utilized for a grant for one million {dollars} to implement what we wished to do, utilized for a few years, and we by no means obtained approval on these requests,” Moser recalled.
As warning methods for flood waters lingered in Kerr County, nearer to Houston, a number of space communities going through different potential emergencies put in sirens.
In 2023, the small metropolis of Galena Park put in city-wide sirens and confirmed them off to ABC13. On the time, officers stated the main target was to warn residents of emergencies from the quite a few petrochemical vegetation close by, they usually weren’t alone. Pasadena, Deer Park, and La Porte all have warning sirens. All these communities concentrate on petrochemical accidents.
Nonetheless, Moser says they clearly work. As a retired NASA engineer who has managed many large-scale tasks, he’s hopeful that there shall be motion for change.
“This can be a tragic incident, occasion. I hope that this shall be a catalyst. I believe the funding shall be there,” he stated.
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