Last summer, Nashville’s Office of Emergency Management upgraded the county’s tornado warning system. But they failed to warn residents on Thursday that a storm was near.
In Southeast Davidson county, the Nashville Weather Service issued a tornado warning at 8:15 p.m. Thursday. That warning didn’t set off 18 tornado sirens. Metro says the problem was noticed quickly and maintenance contractors called to work on resolving the issue.
Some sirens ended up sounding after the tornado warning had expired. After most were fixed, one at Cane Ridge Park continued to not activate.
“At 8:24 p.m. the NWS cancelled the Tornado Warning, however the email through our dispatch center showing that cancellation was not received until 8:37 p.m.,” a press release says. “The system does not automatically get the cancellations from the weather service. The system is setup for the duration of each polygon to sound in in thirty-minute intervals to sound for the duration of on a 10-minute cycle of sounding for three minutes and then silence for 7 minutes, this means the last siren activation was at 8:35 p.m.”
OEM is working to get the Cane Ridge Park siren working again, along with those at Sevier Park, Shelby Park and Kirkpatrick Elementary. But the agency isn’t sure how long it’ll take. The last three sirens went out because of power failures.
When sirens are working, it’s important to go inside and get information on the weather, get to the lowest level away from outside walls and windows and to protect your head.
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