County officials work to clarify, improve emergency siren policy 

(Seguin) — Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kutscher says he is urging residents to stay alert, stay connected, and stay involved when it comes to emergency flood warnings and preparedness. He says this is especially important when understanding siren protocols and hopes that increased communication efforts will also become part of the process from here on out.

Kutscher made his comments during a flood recap that was presented to the commissioners court by Patrick Pinder, the Guadalupe County Emergency Management Coordinator and Fire Marshal.

Kutscher says he acknowledges confusion over why flood sirens were not activated during a recent rain event, even though water levels appeared to meet the previous threshold of 10,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) for sounding the alarms.

“If we just looked at a piece of paper, we would have said we need to trigger that siren,” said Kutscher. “But because lakes had reduced amount of water in them because of dam construction, there was added capacity to be able to take that water.”

Instead of activating sirens and causing unnecessary alarm, Kutscher said officials made a calculated decision based on real-time data and communication with engineers at Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA). He says during the July 5 rain event, the county was in direct contact with GBRA who knew that the empty lakebeds were able to absorb the inflow, reducing the flood threat here locally.

“There’s a lot of people going, ‘You should have sounded the siren.’ My recommendation, Patrick, would be that we update that policy… maybe we update on that policy and have some parameters or caveats that say based on that, that it could be different because of the construction that’s going on,” said Kutscher.

If anything, the judge says this latest event has led them to work on an upgraded plan. Kutscher noted that a new emergency response plan is being drafted and will be posted to the county’s website as soon as possible.

Pinder added that this new policy will include “updated criteria and considerations for siren activation, particularly during the ongoing construction at local dams.”

“We’re looking at trying to put cameras on the rivers, trying to work with GBRA,” he added. “That policy and procedure that was put up – GBRA made changes on their side and never notified us. It wasn’t anything drastic. It was just who to contact – things like that. The staff at GBRA leaves just like they do at the county So, just making sure that we’re communicating that back and forth.”

Pinder agrees with Judge Kutscher and stresses that community members are not just observers but are essential in the county’s preparedness efforts.

“You used to have a list of residents along the river that would contact, you know, the emergency management coordinators prior to me. I’m sure some of those are outdated numbers and contacts. Most of these people may or may not still be there. That still applies,” said Pinder. “We want to know what it is doing.”

He also emphasized that the county is actively working to close information gaps so that the strongest tool will be in place for the future.

Judge Kutscher also asked residents to sign up for the county’s advance warning systems, which provide critical alerts not only for flooding, but also for emergencies reported by law enforcement.

“I do ask again… that everybody please visit this website and or call the Office of Emergency Management to make sure you are signed up and registered for advance warning systems,” said Kutscher. “Make sure on your phones that you don’t have the alerts turned off… if you have that intentionally turned off and we have a major event and send something out… it could prevent you from receiving that message.”

Links to sign-up for the alerts can be found on the county’s website at guadalupetx.gov. Residents may also contact the emergency management office at 830-303-8856.