WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – The Sedgwick County Emergency Manager shared new information Friday morning about why tornado sirens sounded in Sedgwick County despite no warning being in effect.
The Emergency Manager initially said a malfunction caused sirens to sound in Sedgwick County during a tornado warning for Sumner County, but later clarified that was not the case.
The Sumner County warning prompted officials there to activate a siren zone in Sedgwick County to notify the Kansas Star Casino and the City of Mulvane, which straddles the county line.
According to the Emergency Manager, the contractor has now created a separate siren zone for Mulvane and the Kansas Star Casino to prevent similar incidents in the future.
ORIGINAL STORY: A tornado siren malfunction created confusion early Friday for people the Wichita metro. As Storm Team 12 tracked a Tornado Warning in Sumner County around midnight, tornado sirens began sounding across Wichita despite no active warnings for the City or Sedgwick county.
According to Sedgwick County dispatchers, the storm in Sumner County caused the tornado sirens to activate at the Kansas Star Casino. This caused a chain reaction triggering sirens in Derby and Wichita, dispatch said.
Sedgwick County Emergency Management is looking in to what caused the malfunction.
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