VANDERBURGH CO., IN (WFIE) -
There were no warnings as all that rain moved through Saturday night, but one Tri-State storm siren sounded, and kept sounding for nearly an hour. And, you'll be surprised what set it off, and who turned it off.
We received many calls at about 10:15 p.m. regarding this alarm. Central dispatch says they received even more, as the alarm just would not stop.
As severe weather creeped into the Tri-state Saturday night, many people were on alert. None, perhaps, more so, than those living near Boonville-New Harmony Road.
"I had watched it on my iPhone and different things like that," said resident Vicki James. "Watching it, I knew it was coming. But I just didn't know, you know, I didn't think it was going to be that bad."
James lives right across the street from a warning siren that stands near the intersection of Silverthorne and Boonville-New Harmony. She says she was surprised when she heard the siren go off, since local media had not announced a tornado warning.
"And then all the sudden, the alarm went off," she said. "Which isn't unusual for the area, but you still don't like to hear it. But last night, all the sudden, it would not stop."
For 55 minutes, the siren continued to sound off. EMA Director Sherman Greer says no one at central dispatch activated the alarm, but that the alarm activated itself.
"They work off of radio waves," Greer explained. "So, if a radio wave got close to it, or something like that, it keyed it up and set it off."
Greer says the frequency, normally used to activate the alarm, was still being used by an unknown nearby radio. So, since dispatch could not shut it down, how did the alarm finally cease?
"It had to be manually turned off. A person that lived out there got it turned off before I got out there and turned it off," said Greer. "He just, there's a manual lever on there, that you can turn it off and disconnect it."
Greer says he believes this was a fluke incident, and that he hasn't seen it happen here in the 20+ years he has been with the EMA.
Copyright 2012 WFIE. All rights reserved.
The siren located near the Boonville-New Harmony Road and Old Petersburg Road intersection worked overtime, sounding for about 40 minutes.
