FEMA records show Kerr County didn't alert all cell phones as flooding began

FEMA records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates show that Kerr County officials 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 cell phone 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

FEMA records obtained by NBC 5 Investigates show that Kerr County officials 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 cell phone 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 cell phone alerts sent through FEMA’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 cell phones in a designated area. It’s the same system used to send Amber Alerts.