Emergency Information
Where to get real information when the power is out, the cell towers are down, or the water is rising. Every link goes to the authority, not to us.
PolkTX is not an emergency service and is not an alerting authority. This page exists to point you at the people who are. During a hurricane, follow Polk County Emergency Management and the National Weather Service — not a website that might be down when you need it.
Polk County Office of Emergency Management
Disaster declarations, burn bans, evacuation guidance, shelter information and the county's own emergency notifications. When there is a conflict between anything on PolkTX and what the county says, the county is right.
polktx.gov/326/Office-of-Emergency-Management ↗When the internet goes down
This is the part most people never think about until it matters.
Upper Lake Livingston Wireless Association
Polk County's amateur radio club, on the air since 2007. Its members run the county's ARES emergency communications and a weekly Skywarn training net. When cell service and internet fail in a hurricane — and in this county they do — amateur radio is what still works.
2nd Thursday of the month, 7:00 PM
Onalaska Volunteer Fire Department, 181 Old Groveton Road, Onalaska
Visitors welcome, and the club runs Zoom on meeting nights. Licensing help is available for anyone who wants to get started.
How to get licensed ↗Worth writing down and keeping with your hurricane supplies. A cheap handheld and this list is a real backup when nothing else is working.
Official sources
Bookmark these before you need them.
National Weather Service, Houston/Galveston
Warnings, watches, radar and hurricane products for Polk County.
Open ↗Watch Duty
Wildfire tracking reported by volunteers and monitored radio traffic. Free app, no ads.
Open ↗Texas A&M Forest Service
Statewide burn ban status and wildfire danger.
Open ↗Trinity River Authority lake data
Lake Livingston levels and dam release information from the operator.
Open ↗Entergy Texas outage map
Power outage status and restoration estimates.
Open ↗Sam Houston Electric Cooperative
Live outage map and restoration status for co-op members across much of the county.
Open ↗TxDOT road conditions
Highway closures and road conditions, centered on Polk County.
Open ↗Texas Division of Emergency Management
State-level disaster declarations and recovery assistance.
Open ↗School closures
Districts announce through their own systems. We never state whether a district is open.
Before the season starts
- Sign up for Polk County's emergency notifications through the Office of Emergency Management.
- Know whether your power comes from Entergy or Sam Houston Electric Cooperative, and save that outage number.
- If you're on the lake, know your elevation and your flood zone. Lake level and dam releases are published by the Trinity River Authority.
- Keep a battery or hand-crank radio. Local AM and FM stations stay on the air when the internet does not.
- Write down the repeater frequencies above, even if you aren't licensed. You can listen without a license.
About this page
Every link goes to the organization that owns the information. PolkTX has no affiliation with any of them, earns nothing from these links, and does not issue alerts, warnings or all-clears of any kind.
Something out of date? Tell us.