SPENCER COUNTY, Ky. (WDRB) -- Each year, Kentucky holds a statewide tornado drill to make sure counties are prepared, but when sirens started blaring across the commonwealth Wednesday morning, they were silent in Spencer County.
"We went to test the sirens and they did not activate," Spencer County Chief of Emergency Services Chris Limpp said.Â
The county recently switched to a different digital radio system for its emergency management agencies and that caused a problem with the sirens.Â
"We found out that we had missed moving that signal over," Limpp said.
The county is dispatched out of the Kentucky State Police Frankfort Post 12. A KSP radio technician came out to fix the issue and the sirens were tested again. They are now working, and officials say this incident shows just how important safety drills are.
"It let us find out there was a problem before there was an actual event and we needed those sirens," Limpp said. "So it worked out in our favor."Â
The statewide tornado drill in Kentucky came just one day after middle Tennessee was hit by strong tornadoes. At least 24 people were killed across the state.Â
The sirens are made to warn people outdoors, so Limpp says it's important to have another method to get emergency and severe weather alerts at home.
Several apps are available on your phone, but you should also buy a weather radio.
"We can't rely on outdoor weather stations or weather sirens to wake us up in the middle of the night that's something's going on," he said.
Related Stories:
Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
