HUNT, Texas — Nearly two months after the Guadalupe River flooded the Texas Hill Country, the community of Hunt is taking steps to better prepare for future natural disasters. A decades-old siren, located atop the Hunt Volunteer Fire Department, was tested today as part of these efforts.
“We have an air raid siren on top of our fire station. It’s been a part of the station for years, but after the flooding, we decided we want to use every piece of equipment we have in our station for our community,” said Hunt Volunteer Fire Department Chief Lee Pool. “So we’ve decided, on the first of every month, at 12 o’clock noon, we’re going to start up the air raid siren for a minute, and that way, it’ll notify our community that, hey, we’re being proactive. And if we do have another situation on the river like we did the Fourth of July, this will be something we can use to notify them.”
The siren, which has been part of the building for 20 years, was not used during the July 4th flooding because no one anticipated the scale of the disaster, Pool said. Currently, the siren is activated manually, but there are plans to install a smart switch for remote activation.
“What we want to do is just see how loud it gets, and we have people down Highway 39 and up 1340 to see how far the stretch is,” Pool added.
The community continues to heal from the devastation, with businesses slowly reopening and cleanup efforts making a significant impact. However, the scars remain, as two bodies are still missing from the flood.
“There are still boots on the ground. There’s still two bodies that we’re looking for, and we hope that we find those bodies for closure for the families,” Pool said.
Despite the challenges, signs of recovery are evident. The local store in Hunt is hosting music events, and businesses are gradually returning. The post office, destroyed in the flood, now operates out of Ingram.
“The ladies that ran this post office out here are all working through the Ingram post office. So familiar faces, and you just got to go to Ingram to get your mail. So that’s working,” said Kirk Griffins, president of the board of the Hunt Volunteer Fire Department.
Griffins also noted the support from the state, which brought in paid fire departments for emergency relief, allowing the Hunt Fire Department to focus on flood recovery.
After the siren test, those in the immediate area could hear it, though it was not audible miles away. Nonetheless, community leaders see this as a positive step forward.