After winter storm, Texas lawmakers consider Amber Alert-type system for disasters
Eric Britt tented himself in a blanket as he waited for power to return to his Arlington home.
“It was pretty miserable,” he said, shielding the hardship with laughs. “I hid myself under a blanket hoping my CO2 would keep me a little warm.”
Like many during January’s winter storm, Britt thought the outages would last minutes, not days. But as the hours passed and the temperature on his thermostat dropped, it became apparent that relief from the cold wasn’t coming.
At first he was able to check Facebook on his phone. But phone batteries only last so long. Britt’s radio tuned to NPR became his source for updates on the complications from the frigid temperature.
A self-described “realist,” Britt wasn’t surprised when he didn’t hear from the state about what was going on. Locally, he understands that electricity providers were also unsure when power would return, but he wishes communication had been better.
“It would have been helpful to … at least let me know to some degree, ‘Hey, here’s what we know, and here’s what … we don’t know yet’” Britt said.
For Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, it is apparent that communication is lacking during disasters. The topic came up time and time again during last month’s House and Senate hearings on the outages. Texas lawmakers spent two days grilling electricity providers, representatives from the power industry and officials from the Public Utility Commission and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas about the power grid failure, including questions on how Texans were kept informed.
With the first round of hearings complete, lawmakers have started to file legislation in response to the power grid failure that left millions without electricity. For some, like Britt, the blackouts lasted days.
“One of the biggest takeaways from the hearings were how unprepared we appeared to be to communicate consistently so the public would know what was going on,” Raymond said.
He’s pushing a bill that would establish a statewide alert system for disasters, similar to an Amber Alert.
Raymond has called for one in the past to no avail. He hopes this time will be different.
A statewide alert system
When Hurricane Harvey crashed into the Texas coast in 2017, Raymond recalls evacuees coming to Laredo to escape the Category 4 storm. Local governments and the state were working hard to respond, but the information going out to the public was muddled because it was coming from too many sources.
“You didn’t know who was right and who was wrong and who had the latest information,” Raymond said. “I felt like, and I still do, that we have to have an authoritative voice and operation and outlet.”
Raymond filed a version of the bill in 2019, but it didn’t make it out of committee.
The legislation calls for a study of notification methods used by local governments and the feasibility of a statewide alert system. The state could adopt one for disasters if the study finds it would be beneficial.
The nationwide Amber Alert system was created after the abduction of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman of Arlington in January 1996. The notices are disseminated to the public after law enforcement determines an abduction meets the criteria for the alert. In Texas, the Department of Public Safety is tasked with coordinating the state’s Amber Alert network.
A lot of the technology to send alerts for disasters is already in place through FEMA’s wireless emergency alert system, said John Bischoff, vice president for the Missing Children Division at National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The center helps send Amber Alerts to phones.
But a plan is needed for when the alerts will be used and who would decide to send them.
State Rep. Craig Goldman, a Fort Worth Republican who chairs the Energy Resources committee, said the system would likely be run through the Texas Division of Emergency Management. He pointed out that a disaster declaration was issued for all of Texas’ 254 counties leading up to the storm.
“When that happens, something needs to trigger a response — meaning we notify the people of Texas of what is potentially to come,” Goldman said. “And we notify Texans through every means possible.”
One thing to keep in mind is striking a balance in the volume of alerts to avoid desensitizing people, Bischoff said.
The notification system is one of several proposals following the power outage. House Speaker Dade Phelan has announced seven priority bills related to the storm, including Raymond’s. Bills would require power generators be weatherized and ERCOT board members live in Texas are among the legislation.
Tarrant County residents in the dark
Megan McCatty of Saginaw went without power for three days. She was without water for a week after that when pipes busted in her apartment complex. McCatty said she also lost internet and had limited phone service as she tried to care for her two daughters during the freezing temperatures.
She and the girls were able to find warm shelter with loved ones, but while stuck in the cold McCatty compared it to camping.
“We made a little game and used our imagination to try and make it bearable,” McCatty said.
But they had little information about what was going on and when things would return to normal.
Alerts in emergencies could be helpful, but the text messages should provide critical information about timing, said Britt of Arlington.
“As long as it would give more than, ‘Hey there’s a power outage,’” Britt said. “We know that. Something along the way of an ETA, why we can’t give an ETA — any additional information is always helpful.”
McCatty questioned whether the alerts would be useful in disasters.
“I don’t think I would have gotten it,” she said, referring to alerts that would be sent to phones. “I don’t really know how they would go about doing that except, I don’t know, maybe have a van with a megaphone driving around neighborhoods.”
But more information during disaster situations would be welcomed, McCatty said.
“I don’t know if there would be any way to safeguard the standards of communication from severe weather,” she said. “But if there were a way, I mean, that would be preferred because if I could have gotten word that the situation was going to be what it was sooner than, you know, being right on top of us, I could have prepared a lot better. I would have made different decisions.”
David Brockman of Fort Worth said he received “absolutely no word” from his electricity provider, Oncor, as he was without power. Temperatures at his east Fort Worth home dropped to 30 degrees one night. He signed up for text alerts on Feb. 15, but didn’t hear from the energy delivery company that serves much of North Texas. He also didn’t have any success with its website or phone line.
“So we were ‘in the dark’ as far as information goes, as well as electric power,” Brockman said in a Twitter message to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Oncor took steps to communicate with the public ahead of the winter storm and during the outages but was inundated with calls from customers seeking help, spokesperson Kerri Dunn said. The company got more calls in two days than all of 2020, she said.
Customers can sign up for Oncor text alerts by visiting Oncor’s website or by texting REG to 66267, Dunn said.
“We are aware that we had some challenges with our communication during the event,” Dunn said. “Just the incredible magnitude of this emergency event was really challenging on our equipment and on our staff.”
Oncor is working with its technology and communication partners, as well as lawmakers, on improvements, she said.
“Whether that ends up being an alert system or something further, we’re happy to work with these partners and see what we can get accomplished,” Dunn said.
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 10:12 AM.
