Eli in comments alerted us to this story. A few heroic individuals in Austin, TX decided to test their cities’ zombie notification system by putting up a warning message on various road signs. I know it’s dangerous to “cry wolf” about this sort of situation-you run the risk of people thinking it’s a joke when the dead actually do begin to rise-but it’s important to know you have ways to get the information out in case of an attack. Sure, you could always plan on using city signs, but how do you know they’ll work unless you test them?

I’m more than a little disappointed in the lack of zombie knowledge shown in the Statesman article, though. They say, “No zombies have been seen in the area, and with any luck, Tuesday night’s cold front killed off any undead with ghoulish plans to invade the city.” I’m afraid they are just providing false reassurances to Austintonians. As anyone who has researched the matter knows, the walking dead can’t be “killed,” especially not be cold. The best one can hope for is for the ghouls to be frozen and immobilized, which requires temperatures far colder than are found in Texas, and there’s still the chance of reanimation after the thaw. It just shows there’s still a long way to go before people truly understand the threat.