Springfield’s storm sirens failed Wednesday during weekly test
Tornado sirens are tested every second Wednesday of the month
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) -
Severe weather can happen any time of the year in the Ozarks. You always need to be on your guard and prepared. Every month Greene County has severe weather siren tests, but yesterday there was a delay with the siren going off.
Just like clockwork the siren is tested at the same time every month.
Larry Woods, the Director of Emergency Management for Greene County OEM, said, “On the second Wednesday of the month at 10am we do the outdoor warning siren test.”
This month, Greene County residents noticed silence for 17 minutes.
“When we went to do the test yesterday, the siren console sustained a malfunction,” Woods said, “It was a test. There was no threat whatsoever, so we took the time to try and troubleshoot that before we went to the backup system.”
After determining a bigger fix was in store for the main siren console, they moved instead to the backup system, which worked flawlessly.
During severe weather, every second counts. OEM wants you to know that during a real emergency, they would have switched to the backup system immediately. There would have been no delay.
“The switchover would be almost immediately,” Woods said.
Woods said the purpose of having a backup system is to ensure that the sirens will always be working. During the test they went through and checked every component of the sirens.
Technicians were called and were able to fix the main console within 45 minutes.
“It was just a loose wire,” Woods said.
When you hear the sirens during severe weather, take shelter.
“Put as many walls between you and the outside world as possible. Protect your vital parts, your head and neck typically,” Woods said.
You always need multiple ways to get your warnings. You cannot just rely on those tornado sirens. When severe weather is imminent, turn on the TV to get the latest coverage from the First Alert Weather Team. You need to download the KY3 First Alert Weather App so you can get notifications on impending weather straight to your phone.
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