Saturday, Jul. 04, 2009

Some Columbus emergency sirens blared at wrong time

Parts of north Columbus were surprised after emergency warning sirens went off about 1 p.m. today.

A 911 supervisor said the sirens did not go off at their normal noon testing. They were set off more than an hour later to determine if technical problems had been resolved.

The city uses the sirens to warn residents of inclement weather, such as tornados, hail and thunderstorms.

Carol Mainor, a convenience store clerk at the BP gas station on Warm Springs Road, said she and her co-workers didn't know what was going on at the time - or if a storm was approaching.

"There was no clouds," she said. "Everything was fair...I don't know what it was."

Riley Land, Columbus' director of emergency management, was unavailable for comment Saturday.