FEMA records show Kerr County didn't alert all cellphones as flooding began
Source: NBC News
July 11, 2025, 10:17 AM EDT / Source: NBC Dallas-Fort Worth
Federal Emergency Management Agency records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates show that Kerr County officials in Texas did not use FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert & Warning System to send warnings with safety instructions to all mobile phones in the affected area during critical hours, as the flooding began on July 4.
Researchers who have studied the cellphone warning system told NBC 5 Investigates that policies on how and when to issue critical alerts vary widely from one county to another, potentially risking delays when seconds count.
As the search for the missing continues in Kerr County, records reviewed by NBC 5 Investigates raise new questions about whether local officials could have used the nation’s wireless emergency alert system to better warn people in the flood’s path.
Along with our partners at NBC News, we scoured a FEMA archive of cellphone alerts sent through the agency’s integrated public alert and warning system, or IPAWS. IPAWS is a system that many local counties, including Kerr County, are authorized to use to issue warnings to all cellphones in a designated area. It’s the same system used to send Amber Alerts.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fema-records-show-kerr-county-didnt-alert-cell-phones-flooding-began-rcna218248
Info on IPAWS - https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/practitioners/integrated-public-alert-warning-system
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