In the last two weeks, thousands of Austinites have gotten text messages and calls urging them to "shelter in place," to "evacuate immediately," and to click on mysterious links.
The emergency alerts have been described by many as unclear, contradictory, and even kind of spammy. Yet they're supposed to be the first line of defense for the public against immediate dangers like mass shootings, flash floods and even disease outbreaks. Emergency communication staff say making those clearer in the wake of a recent shooting — and historic flooding in the Hill Country last year — is more important now than ever.
So what happened recently, and is anyone trying to make it better?
'Does this mean I can't come home?'
Earlier this month, nearly 52,000 residents across South Austin got an emergency notification telling them to shelter in place because a "dangerous violent person with warrants" was in the vicinity. Many of them took to social media to vent their confusion.
"I thought it was fake text because it didn't mention Austin," one user on Reddit said. Others commented that the hyperlink coupled with the message, which led to a longer message, looked like spam.
Another Austinite, John Stolz, pointed out in an interview with KUT News that the warning didn't identify which neighborhoods were specifically at risk.
"It seemed really spammy," he said.
Days later, more than 1,300 residents in North Austin got an alert to "evacuate immediately," only to get a contradictory order that a "shelter in place" had been lifted roughly an hour later.
That confusion was all over a neighborhood Discord chat. In the chat, residents reported that they called 311 to get more information and were told there was an armed suspect behind an apartment complex in the area. Another resident said the warning, which included a hyperlink to a longer message, looked like a phishing scam.
"So I'm about to be off work," one resident said. "Does this mean I can't come home?"
Empower, not alarm
These alerts all happen within a larger ecosystem.
The Texas Department of Public Safety sends Amber Alerts, which notify people to be on the lookout for a missing child, as well as Blue Alerts, which tell the public when a law enforcement officer is shot.
Both those alerts generally cause a cell phone to vibrate and make a blaring sound until the recipient acknowledges them. They also go to everyone with a cell phone unless a user decides to opt out. The same is true for weather alerts, which are handled by the federally-run National Weather Service.
The alerts that tens of thousands of Austinites got earlier this month are different. They fall under the Warn Central Texas system, which is managed by a coalition of local emergency management officials called the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG).
Residents in a 10-county region have to sign up for these alerts first. And a variety of local agencies have the keys to that system, which means they can send recipients, texts and emails — or even call them — without checking with anyone else first.
That's what the Austin Police Department did in the case of both alerts that caused confusion earlier this month, according to Martin Ritchey, head of emergency communications for CAPCOG.
"We don't look over the shoulder of the police executives," he said. "They're making that decision with a lot of other factors and information that we don't have. So we trust and support them in making those decisions."
Jim Redick, who also helps manage the Warn Central Texas system on behalf of the city of Austin, said that Austin Police didn't coordinate with his office either. He said the alerts could have been clearer and should have identified the agency sending them out.
"We continue to try to refine," he said. "We want to make sure, one, we identify who the message is coming from. ... We want to provide whatever that protective action is with it, with a brief explanation of what the scenario is and then where folks can get more information about that."
Things went a little better a few days later, Redick said, when Austin Police coordinated with his office in advance of sending out a citywide alert about an ongoing shooting spree.
After KUT News reached out to APD for comment, Commander Lawrence Davis said the department would commit to making alerts clearer and more concise.
Davis, who oversees APD's emergency communications unit, said he's "committed to transparency" and that the department "welcome[s] dialogue" about improving its messaging.
"We're always looking at the system to tidy up and tighten up to ensure that we have concise messaging," he said. "The goal is not to alarm people, but to empower them and give them information."
'Let's work on that'
Ritchey with CAPCOG said the nature of this work is "heady" stuff.
Sending too many messages runs the risk of either terrifying residents or desensitizing them. On the other hand, emergency management officials need to send information quickly for it to be useful.
"If they delay in sending the message — or if they don't send a message — that can be even worse than sending a bad message," Ritchey said.
Ritchey thinks APD struck the right balance during the May 17 shooting spree with an alert that identified specific areas to avoid and told residents how to get future updates.
Davis, the APD commander, said the emergency communications unit would commit to consistently identifying messaging from APD and that it would craft more templates to make their messages look more uniform to residents.
"Coming up with the framework that's usable [and] user-friendly and consistent and that matches it, that's going to be … the next evolution," he said. "I'm glad that there are people, including this story, that are like, 'Hey, this is what we would like to see.' Well, OK. Let's work on that."
Ritchey said CAPCOG will address some concerns this summer at its annual training for emergency communications staff in its 10-county service area.
"Everybody has a siren in their pocket," he said. "There's no better way to get emergency messages than having it on your body."
Copyright 2026 KUT News