If you were on the west side of Columbus Monday night and thought, “Wait… is there a tornado and no one told me?” you weren’t alone.
Around 9:20 p.m., a tornado siren near Sullivant Avenue and Georgesville Road started blaring with no warning, no storm, and absolutely nothing on the radar. Naturally, folks got spooked.
Turns out, it was just a glitch.
Franklin County Emergency Management and Homeland Security (FCEM&HS) says the siren malfunctioned and started sounding on its own. Staff were alerted, responded quickly, and shut it down that same evening. The siren was serviced the next morning and is now back in working order.
While some people thought they were hearing multiple sirens, FCEM&HS confirmed it was just the one that was acting up.
There are 198 outdoor warning sirens across Franklin County.
The one on Sullivant was installed in 2002, which makes it kind of a middle-aged siren. Not old enough for retirement, but definitely not fresh off the lot. The county does weekly tests and regular maintenance, but every now and then, a siren decides to go rogue.
The agency apologized for the late-night scare and emphasized that the system is still dependable. This kind of malfunction is rare, and when it happens, they move fast to fix it.
To learn more about hazards, like tornadoes, that Franklin County is facing, head over to the FCEM&HS website.
Featured image via FCEM&HS
