As the Guadalupe River swelled from a wall of water heading downstream, sirens blared over the tiny river community of Comfort — a last-ditch warning to get out for those who had missed cellphone alerts and firefighters going street-to-street telling people to get out.

It’s just before noon and several news crews are gathered outside the fire hall in Comfort, Texas, their cameras pointed at a yellow siren high on a pole and set to go off every day at midday.

Daniel Morales, assistant chief of the Comfort Volunteer Fire Department, believes that long, flat tone the morning of July Fourth saved lives.

The official call came around noon Thursday, and by 3 p.m., the Tuscaloosa Fire Department Rescue and Search Team was on the road headed to Texas to assist in the flood recovery, a 900 plus mile trip straight ahead.

Texas has confirmed 119 deaths as a result of the storms that dangerously raised the Guadalupe River 26 feet in under an hour. On Tuesday, first responders and volunteers fanned out on foot, horseback and boats.