SAN MARCOS, Texas — Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra criticized the city of San Marcos after a server malfunction may have caused warning sirens to fail during a severe weather event last Friday.
Storms barreled through the area Friday night, bringing with it severe weather, and a tornado warning in nearby Blanco County. With San Marcos on the edge of that warning, sirens were supposed to activate.
“It is of great concern when all that work doesn’t work when you need it,” Becerra said. “It’s like that phrase; you can always count on them until you need them.”
Texas State student Deanna Thompson expressed concern, saying, “What if the tornado did come to San Marcos? That could be disastrous.”
According to Becerra, an alert was sent out to Texas State students by the university, “which I’m grateful for,” he said.
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The city acknowledged the importance of reliable emergency systems in a Facebook post and announced Monday morning that the warning system was back to working as intended.
Resident Nina Frankson expressed relief, saying, “We can move past it as long as we fix it the next time.”
The city is treating the situation with urgency, a response Becerra deemed crucial following a summer where warning systems were a major concern after the July 4 floods in the Hill Country.
“Kerr County is a sad example of what happens when state, federal doesn’t work well with local,” Becerra said. “We don’t want our county that does so much to prepare to be another example of broken government.”
The weather sirens in San Marcos were initially installed in 2011. There are 14 of them located across the city.
The city of San Marcos is still looking into what caused the error.