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Siren test take two a success

Unfortunately, it took two tornado siren tests, but officials know what they need to do.

On Friday, Warren County Public Safety set off the sirens as a test of new computer equipment being integrated into the emergency management system.

It did not go as planned.

“The one in town didn’t go off,” Public Safety Director Ken McCorrison said. “The majority of the ones around town didn’t go off.”

But, not going off was informative.

“It was a baseline,” McCorrison said. “We needed to know where we needed to make adjustments.”

It’s not as simple as flip one switch and all the sirens go off — for now.

“There are two different kinds of pieces of equipment that activate the sirens,” he said. “All of one type functioned as desired.”

Monday’s follow-up test also provided information.

“With today’s test, we confirmed that we can still set all of them off,” McCorrison said. “We know that the siren is not broken.”

With both sets of information in hand, McCorrison said the department will make the necessary adjustments and likely schedule another test.

“It’s inconvenient,” he said. “Nobody likes to hear that siren.”

The tornado siren system is not intended to reach everyone in the county. It is meant to alert people who are outside to seek shelter. “It is an outdoor warning siren,” McCorrison said. “The purpose of those sirens was never to be heard inside every house.”

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