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Officials attribute siren outage to electrical surge; commissioners push residents to enroll in phone alerts
Summary
After multiple tornado‑sirens failed during a storm, county staff said an electrical surge likely knocked out redundant equipment and installed a temporary radio fix while awaiting a factory replacement; commissioners emphasized that sirens are an outdoor backup and urged residents to enroll in phone/text alerts.
County emergency staff told commissioners the recent siren outage was most likely caused by an electrical surge that disabled multiple pieces of redundant equipment, not by lack of testing or personnel error.
An emergency official explained that the siren network includes backups but that lightning or a surge can take out several components at once. "Three pieces of viable equipment don't go down at the same time typically unless there's an electrical surge," the official said, describing a temporary fix that restored service while a permanent Motorola repeater is sourced from the factory.
Officials stressed the limitations of sirens as a public alerting system. "You will not find a single expert in meteorology, EMA, 911 who says tornado sirens should be relied upon," an official said, adding that sirens are designed for outdoor audiences and have an estimated optimal outdoor radius of about two miles per siren; Jennings County covers about 378 square miles, so sirens cannot reasonably cover the entire county.
Commissioners and staff encouraged residents to enable Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on smartphones and to sign up for the county's phone/text notifications (signup via QR code or website). Staff said the county's temporary radio fix is in place but that the permanent repeater is at the manufacturer and could take weeks to arrive.
Officials also outlined current testing procedures: weekly quiet tests and full statewide drills coinciding with the state tornado drill; they noted that tests are not run when storms are forecast and that sirens are intended primarily to signal outdoor occupants to seek shelter and then check authoritative sources for details.
Commissioners said the county will continue to pursue broader notification options and to publicize phone/text enrollment ahead of severe‑weather seasons.
