An online petition calling for warning sirens to be installed in Kerr County, Texas, where flash flooding killed at least 120 people, has reached more than 38,000 signatures.
Nicole Wilson, who started the petition, told CNN sirens are a simple warning system that will alert everyone within range, especially in the middle of the night.
Wilson, who grew up in Kentucky, said residents were trained from a young age to identify the different sounds during a tornado watch or warning and respond accordingly.
“We lived and died by the tornado sirens, and this was in the 80s and 90s when there were no text alerts,” Wilson told CNN’s John Berman.
“So when I found out that there were no sirens in this area and in a lot of areas in the state of Texas … we had a tornado a few years ago, and that blew my mind because sirens are simply an easy warning system,” she said
She also emphasized disaster agencies cannot rely on text messages because some people sleep with their phones off, while cell service is also patchy in some parts of Texas.
“So for example, my daughters were just at a faith-based camp. These children are not allowed to bring any technology whatsoever. It’ll get confiscated because they’re there to be present. They’re there to grow in their faith. And the counselors are also not allowed to have cell phones in the cabins. And so you cannot rely on the text alerts.”
“You have to have layers and you cannot rely on one single mitigation,” she added.
