WAFF.com: North Alabama News, Radar, Weather, Sports and Jobs-Weather sirens fixed after not sounding in severe weather
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By Barbara Czura - email
ARAB, AL (WAFF) - Weather sirens in one Marshall County city didn't go off during last week's tornado warning. Now worried residents want to know why.
Arab has eight sirens and two weren't working, and that's a scary situation for residents. WAFF 48 News got several calls of concern, so we took those questions to city leaders.
John Wright lives in a house off Little Creek Road for the past 11 years. He said the best part about his property is the weather siren.
"I like living next to the siren, especially during the night," Wright said.
He said he and the other citizens of Arab rely on the sirens for protection. During a tornado warning this past week, Wright said the siren was silent.
"It's the first time in 11 years I know it hadn't went off," said Wright,
"With technology, we have the possibility that things will go wrong," said Arab Fire Chief Ricky Phillips.
Phillips said he was aware of the Little Creek siren not working on Thursday, when a test was conducted. He said the siren didn't sound on Wednesday because they were not set off.
The city's alarm policy states they would be set off when the city of Arab has a threat or under a warning. Phillips says the storms passed the Arab area and did not pose a threat, therefore the sirens weren't used.
Phillips says the weather siren located off Little Creek Road was repaired on Friday and is in working condition.
"All the sirens are back up and online, so we're standing by for the next round of weather," said Chief Phillips.
He told WAFF 48 News he's not sure why the sirens malfunctioned, but Arab's safety is his first priority.
He has arranged several additional practice tests to make sure it doesn't happen again, making easier for the people of Arab, like John Wright, to sleep.
Phillips said they will test all of Arab's weather siren's once more this week.
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C'mon, play. You know you want to. The boss will never know.
