Flower Mound is pursuing the ability to send emergency alerts directly to residents' phones, without waiting for Denton County to decide whether a localized threat warrants a mass notification.

Town Council has before it a Memorandum of Agreement with FEMA that would start the process of making Flower Mound an independent alerting authority under the federal Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, known as IPAWS. The agenda item authorizes the mayor to sign the agreement on the town's behalf, according to the Flower Mound Bee, which first reported the move on Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Right now, emergency alert authority for Flower Mound sits with Denton County. That means a neighborhood-scale event, such as flash flooding along Wichita Creek or a chemical incident near a highway corridor, might not meet the county's threshold for a countywide blast. Residents who need to act could be left without a phone alert.

Once fully authorized, Flower Mound's Emergency Management division, part of the Fire Department, could push Wireless Emergency Alerts to cell phones within the town's boundaries without waiting for a county-level decision.

The agreement is only the first step. After it is executed, the town must still select IPAWS-compatible alerting software, complete required FEMA training (a roughly two-hour course called IS-247), apply for public alerting permissions and have those permissions reviewed and approved by a designated Texas state official. FEMA's sign-up page outlines the full pipeline, which takes months to complete.

The new capability would not replace existing county notification systems such as CodeRED or Everbridge that residents have already signed up for. IPAWS adds a broadcast layer the town controls directly, targeted to Flower Mound's geographic boundaries.

Flood-prone corridors stand to benefit most. The town's floodplain management page identifies areas along Bakers Branch, McKamy Creek, Timber Creek, Wichita Creek and low-lying zones near Lake Grapevine as subject to flash flooding and Army Corps of Engineers flood control operations.

Access to IPAWS itself is free. The town will still need to procure its own compatible alerting software.

Residents who want alerts now can sign up for the town's existing emergency notifications through the Emergency Management page without waiting for the IPAWS system to go live.