MUSKOGEE, Okla. — The City of Muskogee says this week's storm siren malfunction was due to a communication link issue that prevented the National Weather Service activation command from reaching the sirens.
The investigation, carried out by the contractor responsible for the outdoor warning system, found that, despite the backup system working as designed, the storm had caused a power surge that tripped the surge-protection breaker on the backup radio. Because the radio was not operational, the backup signal was not sent to the sirens.
System logs show that automatic activation commands were sent at the same time the tornado warning was issued. Emergency management personnel tried to activate the sirens remotely, but the attempts were unsuccessful due to communication failures.
The National Weather Service rated Tuesday's tornado as an EF-1.
City officials say they are committed to keeping the warning system reliable for the community. Additional severe storms are in Friday's forecast.
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