A Tale of Two Sirens (Part 11)

We receive regular enquiries about how River Sentry sirens differ from the “outdoor sirens” currently being installed by the Upper Guadalupe River Authority (UGRA) and under consideration by other flood-prone counties under the State Bill 3 (SB3) providing grant funds under administration by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB). So here is an outline of how our solution compares.

River Sentry approaches sound usage differently. Our sirens reside almost exclusively near sleeping quarters, so we benchmark a fire-code-adherent 75-80 decibels of warning sound inside those structures. As such, we would not classify our sirens as “outdoor” even though they are installed outside. We intend to protect and alert those sleeping inside those buildings. To accomplish this, we place our sirens close to the ground, using the ground itself to increase sound performance. 

We utilize metal enclosures and single-direction output to maximize sound effects. Our aim is to wake you up before the flood gets to you.  In homes with stone exteriors, spray foam insulation, and double-pane windows, this gets more challenging. This is where River Sentry Flood Cubes, which will be available soon, are needed. The RF emitters on the River Sentry towers will enable these alarms to be activated up to two miles away. So, everyone gets a fire-code-adherent warning solution, everyone can be awakened and find safety.

We insist on this approach because flash flood deaths are largely a nighttime occurrence, with the vast majority of deaths occurring between 11 PM and 6 AM. People don’t typically reside outdoors during thunderstorms and are likely to be asleep during these hours.  A valid warning system must account for this.

Unlike those other systems, we do not operate from an expectation that our community must be awake to be saved; that they must log onto a website to check river sensors or venture outside and into the storm to hear a distant siren tower above the increased ambient noise level in heavy thunderstorms.  None of this is realistic or has any record of success during a night-flash flooding event.

Our approach is simply different. River Sentry derives our DNA from large, networked fire alarm systems. Every tower is also a water sensor. Each sensor can trigger the total system protocols. We flood the space with massive sensor deployment and saturate the river valleys with RF warning signals, triggering an unlimited number of warning devices, with no human intervention required. Add a mobile application for another layer of alert function, and now you have the most modern, fire-code-adherent, fast-reacting flood warning system on the planet!