Considering the expense and the way they enable spying on users, I don’t think people should be required to own a cell phone or die. Especially children. Sirens or a weather radio make a lot more sense in some situations.
NOAA weather radios. They receive pretty much everywhere people inhabit in the CONUS. go off like alarm clocks when the NWS issues watches / warnings / advisories.
Don’t rely on one layer of notification. That layer will fail in an emergency. Have a backup plan to the backup plan. Hell, even a selected broadcast media in every market is required to rebroadcast NOAA alerts. Turn on the TV or fm radio for background noise when the weather is squiffy. The alert tone will get your attention.
Fortunately, weather radio continues to issue EAS alerts throughout their broadcast area. Weather radios in the cabins would have alerted them.
Of course, WEA alerts are much more narrowly targeted. WEA alerts are for your own specific area, not the ~50 mile radius around the weather radio transmitter. An EAS alert might be for a tornado a hundred miles out and moving away, while you sit under clear, sunny skies.
Regardless, the speed and degree of flooding far exceeded expectations for dangerous storms. There is no evidence they lacked or ignored the warnings that were sent out. Their preparations were simply inadequate, because the flooding so greatly exceeded their expectations.
Considering the expense and the way they enable spying on users, I don’t think people should be required to own a cell phone or die. Especially children. Sirens or a weather radio make a lot more sense in some situations.
NOAA weather radios. They receive pretty much everywhere people inhabit in the CONUS. go off like alarm clocks when the NWS issues watches / warnings / advisories.
Don’t rely on one layer of notification. That layer will fail in an emergency. Have a backup plan to the backup plan. Hell, even a selected broadcast media in every market is required to rebroadcast NOAA alerts. Turn on the TV or fm radio for background noise when the weather is squiffy. The alert tone will get your attention.
Fortunately, weather radio continues to issue EAS alerts throughout their broadcast area. Weather radios in the cabins would have alerted them.
Of course, WEA alerts are much more narrowly targeted. WEA alerts are for your own specific area, not the ~50 mile radius around the weather radio transmitter. An EAS alert might be for a tornado a hundred miles out and moving away, while you sit under clear, sunny skies.
Regardless, the speed and degree of flooding far exceeded expectations for dangerous storms. There is no evidence they lacked or ignored the warnings that were sent out. Their preparations were simply inadequate, because the flooding so greatly exceeded their expectations.