Siren delay unacceptable

Last Wednesday when the county's emergency sirens sounded to warn of a possible tornado, many residents headed for cover. But they had less of a head start on the storm than they thought. The sirens did not sound until about 10 minutes after the tornado warning was issued.\n The delay occurred because the state's system through which the county receives weather warnings was down for upgrades that day, said John Hooker, the county's emergency management director. Because the county never received the warning through the state's official channel, the dispatchers never received formal notification to sound the sirens. \n But there were plenty of ways to find out about the danger. The cable television system was already running an alert and all of the Indianapolis television stations had cut into coverage. City officials who had looked at radar had already alerted police officers to move their cars into the city garage to avoid hail damage.\nThe county has pumped money into its state-of-the-art early warning system, which includes different sirens for different emergencies and activation of warnings on the cable networks in the county. It is in the process of installing new sirens across town. All three of these are essential tools that could save lives by providing an early warning. \nThe county's emergency management agency should be commended for taking seriously an issue that has been ignored in the past. But the fragility of this system was demonstrated last Wednesday.\nThe county should review all of its procedures for activating the sirens and determine where such weaknesses exist. \nThe breakdown in communications from last week must not be repeated. The Emergency Management Agency needs to determine and implement a backup plan for finding out about warnings. \nHaving armed the county with the best warning tools available, the county must make sure the procedures are there to match.\nStaff vote: 8-0-2\nyes-no-abstain