Software issues could have played a role in some of the county’s tornado sirens not going off Friday night.
County Judge Executive Randy Marcum said officials encountered several issues in trying to activate the alarms Friday night. A malfunction took place resulting in some alarms sounding and others not. That malfunction could possibly be related to a software issue from the company that services the sirens, but it is not yet known for certain if that’s what caused the malfunction.
Marcum said the system is supposed to allow for the sirens to be activated manually from the local dispatch center, but officials encountered several issues when trying to activate the sirens from dispatch as well.
He said the county is continuing to look into the issue.
Marcum said it’s important for people to have multiple ways of receiving information during severe weather. Experts say solely relying on outdoor sirens can be dangerous, as sirens can malfunction and often cannot be heard indoors.
