Conflicting messages about the use of early warning sirens in Ruidoso are emerging as the village deals with the aftermath of this week’s flooding.
Mayor Lynn Crawford stated during a radio interview Wednesday, July 9, that he was unsure why emergency sirens did not sound as torrential rain began pounding the village.
“I don’t know,” he said in response to a question about why the sirens never went off. “I’ll find out. I’ll ask.”
Later in the interview, however, he mused that some people may not have heard the sirens due to the volume of the downpour, echoing a similar claim made during a news conference the same afternoon.
The flooding in Ruidoso, coupled with the disastrous flooding in Texas just days before, has raised alarm bells for many community leaders seeking a more effective way to protect residents as extreme weather events continue to intensify due to climate change.
Those considerations are even more important as President Donald Trump’s administration slashes funding for the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, raising questions about whether the departments can continue to provide accurate weather forecasts and warnings.
Would weather sirens have helped in Ruidoso?
The sound of outdoor weather sirens means “something life-threatening is happening and you should go indoors and get more information,” according to the NWS website.
Sirens generally indicate that some major weather event, such as a tornado, high winds or damaging hail, is underway. But each jurisdiction has different qualifications for when the outdoor siren system should be utilized.
For Ruidoso, the system was likely not engaged due to the local nature of the event.
“The outdoor warning system was not activated yesterday as it is specifically reserved for full town evacuation scenarios,” Crawford stated during a news conference. “The localized nature of yesterday’s flooding did not warrant a full town evacuation.”
The siren system was utilized during the South Fork and Salt fires last year, which resulted in two deaths.
What other alert systems does Ruidoso have?
Even though the village’s outdoor siren system was not deployed, residents have access to other warning systems, village Emergency Management Director Eric Queller said.
“The village has a multilayer alert system,” he said during a news conference alongside Crawford. “We have a ‘Call me Ruidoso’ alert system, which is something called an opt-in system. This is where residents and visitors have to subscribe to get emergency alerts.”
Additionally, the village is a partner in the federal Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, or IPAWS, which sends cell phone alerts such as those that go out for a missing or abducted person.
“The ultimate last layer that we did implement yesterday was the door-to-door knocking,” Queller said. “We had public works, we had fire, and we had police and Park and (Recreation) folks going along the Rio Ruidoso evacuating communities as the wall of water was heading this way.”
El Paso Times reporters Natassia Paloma and Jeff Abbott contributed to this report.
Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached via email at apowell@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Warning sirens were silent during deadly Ruidoso flooding. Here’s why
Reporting by Adam Powell, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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