More Texas communities join cellphone emergency alert system after Central Texas floods

FEMA data shows 27 Texas jurisdictions applied to use IPAWS in the year after the deadly flooding.

More communities in Texas and across the country are signing up to use the nation’s most powerful emergency alert system after deadly flooding in Central Texas exposed gaps in how warnings reach people in danger.

NBC 5 Investigates learned more than 100 agencies nationwide, including more than two dozen in Texas, have applied over the last year to join the national wireless emergency alert system known as IPAWS.

It is the only system capable of reaching all cell phones and can be used during emergencies such as floods, wildfires or active shooter situations, sending warnings directly to mobile phones when time can make the difference between life and death.

Jeannette Sutton, an emergency alert researcher at the University at Albany, said the increase is encouraging.

"I'm really glad to hear that there is an increase because it is one of the most powerful tools that they can have at their disposal," Sutton said.

Sutton said the stunning Central Texas floods last July and the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in January of last year prompted more communities to join the program. She said those disasters served as deadly reminders of how quickly conditions can become dangerous.

"Those two events coupled with one another really accelerated people's interest in this problem and trying to put some solutions in place," Sutton said.

In the year since deadly floodwaters hit Central Texas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency told NBC 5 Investigates it has seen increased interest in IPAWS, with at least 133 jurisdictions applying to join across the U.S., including 27 from Texas.

FEMA said the first Texas application it received after the floods was from the North Texas Tollway Authority, which can now use IPAWS to reach phones along roadways in an emergency.

Cities, including Frisco and Arlington, also joined in the last year. Arlington officials told NBC 5 Investigates last summer that the catastrophic floods factored into their decision and that they worked quickly to implement IPAWS before the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at AT&T Stadium so they could reach visitors’ phones in an emergency.

After the flooding in Central Texas, NBC 5 Investigates reported that 120 of Texas's 254 counties had no county or city agency authorized to send IPAWS alerts. In many cases, counties or cities had simply never signed up with the federal government.

Christen Leaf, a parent who spoke with NBC 5 Investigates last year, said she was shocked to learn how many gaps existed. Leaf’s child was at Camp Mystic when the flooding occurred, but avoided the high water that killed 25 children and two counselors.

"It's shocking. It's shocking. I mean, it's disheartening because you know you think that there would be some sort of consistency at least within the same state, you know that you're in," Leaf said.

Leaf hoped more Texas counties would join IPAWS. A year later, FEMA data shows that is happening, though gaps remain in dozens of counties across the state.

Some counties and cities said they use opt-in alert systems instead of IPAWS, allowing people to sign up to receive cell phone warnings. But experts said those systems do not have the same reach.

"The number of people who opt in to local alerting and notification systems generally is around 20% of the population, which means you are really not able to get your message out to all of the people who need to hear it," Sutton said.

During last year’s flooding in Central Texas, the National Weather Service issued IPAWS alerts, though officials said those warnings may not have reached some people near the river in areas with poor cell service. FEMA records showed local officials had access to IPAWS but did not use it to send additional evacuation instructions.

Authorities have said they were uncertain whether telling some people to leave their homes in the darkness might increase the danger. Emergency warning experts told NBC 5 Investigates that they encourage communities to game-plan potential scenarios and craft messages in advance to avoid making difficult decisions in the heat of the moment.

Now, out of tragedy, more communities are signing on to what is widely considered the nation’s most powerful warning tool.