LINWOOD, Kan. — Driving into town, evidence of rebuilding efforts are obvious following the EF-4 tornado that tore through Linwood in May.
"It was so chaotic for at least two months after, now it’s getting back to regular business and not very many calls and all that," City Clerk Karen Kane said. .
Many lives were saved by the outdoor emergency sirens in the area, including the one behind city hall.
"We have an elementary school and everything else, so that would be horrible if something were to happen and that siren didn’t go off," Kane said.
In Leavenworth County, the sirens undergo a computer check every day at 2 a.m.
On Monday morning, four of the 46 sirens in the county came up with a problem.
According to the county's emergency management director, Chuck Magaha, it was a rare occurrence.
"Whenever there’s a strong storm like the one we had over the weekend, we can see one or two pop up on the grid," Magaha explained.
In this case, two of them experienced power failures – one at 175th and Dempsey Road and another at Pleasant Ridge High School. A third, in Tonganoxie, was nearly fried because of a power surge, and the fourth in Linwood had a weak connection signal.
"The city of Linwood has another siren that couple miles to the west of here and a couple miles to the east, so they still would have been covered," Magaha said.
On Tuesday, with the threat of severe weather, the county had their back-up plan of using first responders to alert citizens on standby.
"Outdoor warning sirens are just that, to be heard outdoors. They’re not ever intended to be heard indoors. We want to make sure people have multiple ways of receiving the warning and heed that warning," Magaha said.
On Wednesday, crews worked hard to get the sirens fixed.
"I consider this a major issue that we had here," Magaha said. "There are people who rely on those outdoor warning sirens. We want to make sure that we give them the best they can."
If the weather cooperates, the county plans to test the sirens on Thursday.
