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Article  https://little-flying-robots.ghost.io/we-have-to-stop-using-facebook-and-x-to-warn-people-about-disasters/   

"I wish I could tell you that Kerr County's dangerous over-reliance on a single, massively flawed social media platform was just a small-town Texas thing, an unfortunate but thankfully rare aberration in American disaster communications practices.

Unfortunately, it's not.

I suspect that the terrible truth is that far too many local authorities are now communicating important messages to the public exclusively via Facebook, Twitter, or some combination therein. And while I say this with the clear caveat that I've been unable to find little recent academic research or reporting on this issue, I've seen enough anecdotal evidence pointing in this direction to scare me.

It's 2025. We're living in a time when social media oligarchs have stopped even pretending to care about the greater good, their platforms have been intentionally engineered to hide non-brainrot information from its users, young people have largely fled to TikTok, and the federal government is starting to mandate using Twitter for official communications.

In other words, we may be glimpsing the leading edge of a big problem with how American local governments communicate with the public about stuff that can kill them. " very interesting article, the rest is at link


 

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Posted
On 7/18/2025 at 9:49 AM, bolverk said:

 

It's bizarre that certain people view physics and chemistry as "political." Sure, you might not agree with how public policy responds to basic scientific facts, and that's when things can get political, but you can't credibly deny that the climate is changing at this point. 

I don't want to derail the thread, but one clear example of change is tornado alley moving from Panhandle/Oklahoma/Kansas to Tennessee/Kentucky/Alabama. This is discussed in business level commercial real estate presentations by both metrology presenters and emergency response companies. (Flood/Disaster repair companies for example). 

So, if it's happening there at heavily conservative meeting, I struggle to understand why it isn't gaining traction elsewhere. Not saying it isn't, rather I don't comprehend why.

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Posted
I don't want to derail the thread, but one clear example of change is tornado alley moving from Panhandle/Oklahoma/Kansas to Tennessee/Kentucky/Alabama. This is discussed in business level commercial real estate presentations by both metrology presenters and emergency response companies. (Flood/Disaster repair companies for example). 
So, if it's happening there at heavily conservative meeting, I struggle to understand why it isn't gaining traction elsewhere. Not saying it isn't, rather I don't comprehend why.

The people with real money at stake discuss facts. Threats to your multimillion/billion dollar bottom line are apolitical.
But on an individual level? See the leopards eating people’s faces phenomenon. People flat-out act against their own (and their community’s) interests in favor of idiotic brainwashed performative bullshit.
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Posted
31 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Which is exactly why we need sirens.

If it were up to Meta they would find a way to sell each land/home owner their own personal flood gauge and set of sirens.

Or Google/Nest will sell you the Flood and Underwater Containment Kit - Universal, better known as the FUCK-U.  

It’ll happily monitor your water levels while collecting information to sell to your insurance company, will sporadically blare out ads for Pixel, and suddenly stop working in 3 years when Google decides to terminate the cloud service that operates it.  

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Posted
57 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Which is exactly why we need sirens.

If it were up to Meta they would find a way to sell each land/home owner their own personal flood gauge and set of sirens.

San Marcos restored 14 outdoor sirens to alert residents of weather dangers, with distinct signals for different emergencies.

SAN MARCOS, Texas — The Fourth of July flooding in Central Texas has highlighted the vital role of outdoor warning sirens in alerting residents to life-threatening emergencies.

The city of San Marcos maintains a network of 14 outdoor warning sirens, strategically positioned to notify the community about potential weather dangers. The system was first installed in 2011 following multiple floods in the region.

All 14 sirens are fully operational and feature new technology that issue distinct signals for various emergencies, allowing residents to discern the nature of a threat and take appropriate action. For example, separate sound patterns distinguish between tornadoes, wildfires and public safety threats.

There are now discussions to build more towers in the future as the city grows. 

“An additional 17 towers would have to be put in place to give us full coverage,” said Rob Fitch, the city’s director of emergency management.
“So we're in talks about financing and looking at a plan.”

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/san-marcos-flood-warning-system-sirens-upgraded/269-0d1cf0ab-d352-4ded-b3ed-840c036855a9
 

♥️

Not here to rehash anything at this point. It’s clear different places took initiative and some did not regarding sirens as part of the arsenal to warn people of flooding. 
 

I am keenly interested in some of your ideas about where the sirens and such would be in place in Kerr county. I figure some of you Surlies are engineers. That would be a cool thread. I cannot be the only one that would like to see what some of y’all have come up with. Which is eons better than what Kerr County did. 

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Posted
19 minutes ago, Homercles said:

Or Google/Nest will sell you the Flood and Underwater Containment Kit - Universal, better known as the FUCK-U.  

It’ll happily monitor your water levels while collecting information to sell to your insurance company, will sporadically blare out ads for Pixel, and suddenly stop working in 3 years when Google decides to terminate the cloud service that operates it.  

I don't know how anyone who lives in a flood, heavy storm or tornado area doesn't own a NOAA alert radio. Below is an article and one of the top ones cost $80 delivered by Amazon. 

Popular Mechanics NOAA alert radio rankings

1620323746-pop-noaa-gallery-4-1620323738.thumb.jpg.981f89ad33ad7653c8197d2b0f1bf5ca.jpg

Posted
36 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


The people with real money at stake discuss facts. Threats to your multimillion/billion dollar bottom line are apolitical.
But on an individual level? See the leopards eating people’s faces phenomenon. People flat-out act against their own (and their community’s) interests in favor of idiotic brainwashed performative bullshit.

Well, if someone lives in the afflicted area how do you ignore the actual real world damage going on right around you? 

I get in broad strokes what you're trying to say, but this isn't scientific evidence on a paper that noone will read, it's your, your relative's or your neighbor's homes being destroyed. 

Posted
Well, if someone lives in the afflicted area how do you ignore the actual real world damage going on right around you? 
I get in broad strokes what you're trying to say, but this isn't scientific evidence on a paper that noone will read, it's your, your relative's or your neighbor's homes being destroyed. 

Oh, that’s easy, I’ve seen it firsthand: they blame Obama and Biden for not building flood control dams (no mention of where, of course, or the fact that it would condemn 10k acres of their neighbors land) etc., or for sinister weather modification that made the tornado happen. I’m not exaggerating here. This is actually their response.
Posted
21 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

ai sez:

The words "gage" and "gauge" are often used interchangeably, but "gauge" is the more common and preferred spelling, especially in American English. Both words, when used as nouns, can refer to an instrument used for measurement or a standard by which something is measured. As verbs, they both mean to measure or estimate. While "gage" can be a variant spelling of "gauge," it also has some distinct, though often obsolete, meanings related to pledges and challenges, like a glove thrown down as a challenge in a duel. 

 

As a patent lawyer, gage/gauge is a word that I wind up using frequently.  I opt for gage because I'm less likely to have to retype it. 😬😬

Posted
39 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

when i see the word "gage" my brain renders this:

 

When I hear “Gage”, my brain envisions the name of a boy whose ancestry includes a trailer park. 

Posted
46 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Bravo. And the enchiladas from the kitchen therein.

back in the 80s before the transpecos got trendy the evans' served up a mean cfs, mashed, corn, green beans and toast, w/ BOTH brown and cream gravy, for NINE DOLLARS

the original dining room was on the southeast corner and it was spartan, nothing like what it is now

Posted
26 minutes ago, Murfdogg21 said:

When I hear “Gage”, my brain envisions the name of a boy whose ancestry includes a trailer park. 

Not really a trailer name.  Does conjure this though.

2000?cb=20181127180940&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=f9

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Posted
back in the 80s before the transpecos got trendy the evans' served up a mean cfs, mashed, corn, green beans and toast, w/ BOTH brown and cream gravy, for NINE DOLLARS
the original dining room was on the southeast corner and it was spartan, nothing like what it is now

That's the dining room I remember. My last visit was probably ‘93 ish.

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