Despite advances in technology, the U.S. still struggles with delivering effective disaster alerts—whether due to inconsistent systems, delayed warnings, or sheer alert fatigue. Many people ignore flood or fire notifications on their phones, assuming they’re false alarms or irrelevant, while others never receive them at all.

Editor’s Note: When disaster warnings fail, lives are at risk. This isn’t just about tech glitches—it’s about trust. If people stop paying attention to alerts or never get them, emergencies turn deadlier. Fixing this means rethinking how alerts are sent, who gets them, and how to make them impossible to ignore.