'Unfortunate mess': Texans outraged as storms sirens fail during tornado

Officials said a software update prevented the sirens from activating, even though San Marcos was on the edge of a tornado warning, according to the city’s Facebook post. The warning originated in Blanco County but extended into neighboring Hays County, which includes San Marcos. While the tornado dissipated before reaching the city, the siren failure raised concerns about public safety.

“We had an opportunity to utilize our high-dollar investment in technology, and we failed,” Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra told KENS5. He explained that the software update disabled the system’s automatic trigger, leaving the sirens unavailable until staff could manually activate them.

San Marcos officials have since added a manual override, allowing staff to trigger the sirens directly if automatic functions fail. The system was monitored over the weekend and will be tested before the next round of severe weather.

Residents expressed frustration on social media. Alexander Blais commented, “That’s something that should’ve been figured out before it was needed.”

Lucian Hales added, “This system is an unfortunate mess. It has potential to be effective like any other siren system, but theres a plethora or issues here.”

Residents like Allison Vidauuri were puzzled at the fact the sirens did not sound the alarm, “The only reason I even knew was because my emergency alarm went off on my phone, and I’ve had my notifications for that stuff off way before that so I’m surprised. definitely was waiting the sirens to go off,” she commented.

Patrick Kibler wrote, “Should be tested right before and often… we know how storms can get crazy real fast.” 

On Becerra’s Facebook post, Devin Sosa added, “That is why I sign up for alerts on multiple platforms. When people rely on one, there is always the off chance it fails.”

The outage came on top of lingering anxiety from the July Fourth flooding, when rapidly rising waters overwhelmed some neighborhoods. It also comes amid new Texas legislation requiring outdoor warning sirens in flood-prone areas and regular testing of those systems, a law signed earlier this year by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Becerra noted that such events keep public safety top of mind, urging residents to sign up for mobile alerts and monitor multiple sources for weather warnings.

MySA reached out to the City of San Marcos and Becerra for comment.