Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick told CBS News Monday that the state of Texas could pay for storm sirens along the Guadalupe River.

River gauges, sirens and clear alerts can together help emergency managers anticipate flash floods and communicate life-saving information.

Texas county commissioners previously suggested "river calling," an informal phone chain used by summer camps, would be better than installing new flood sirens.

A small Texas town that recorded no deaths in last weekend’s flood disaster had recently upgraded its emergency alert system — the kind of setup state, county and federal officials

In the last nine years, federal funding for a system has been denied to the county as it contends with a tax base hostile to government overspending.

KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Over the last decade, an array of Texas state and local agencies missed opportunities to fund a flood warning system intended to avert a disaster like the one that killed dozens of young campers and scores of others in Kerr County on the Fourth of July.

As questions mount over warning systems during the deadly Texas flooding, Channel 9 learned that sirens intended to save lives in the North Carolina mountains failed to work during Helene. ALSO READ: Harrowing stories of rescue emerge from Texas floods as crews search for over 160 reported missing Sirens along Wilson Creek in Caldwell County are

Gov. Greg Abbott has promised to add flood response to the agenda for the July 21 special session, with an expected focus on alert systems and local recovery.