Morning tornado sirens in Sedgwick County were an accident

Tornado sirens blared through Wichita just before 9:20 a.m. Wednesday, but only for about 5 seconds.

It was an accident, according to Sedgwick County.

“During a routine test this morning Sedgwick County Emergency Management selected a non-silent alarm,” Kate Flavin, public information officer for the county, said in an email. “There was no malfunction. It was turned off after a few seconds.”

Earlier this month, an employee of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency sent a false alert warning of an imminent missile attack.

The warning, sent to cellphones, said: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

The worker had mistakenly believed drills for tsunami and fire warnings were actual events, and colleagues were not comfortable working with him, the state said Tuesday. His supervisors counseled him but kept him for a decade in a position that had to be renewed each year.

Sedgwick County has its own system for warning residents about an impending nuclear attack. The last time the county tested it was in 2017; people called asking why the tornado sirens sounded weird.

The warning sirens in Sedgwick County have two modes: The alert mode, a steady tone used for tornadoes and tested most Mondays at noon – and what accidentally sounded on Wednesday morning – and the attack mode, a classic rise and fall sound used for air attacks.

This story was originally published January 31, 2018 at 9:34 AM with the headline "Morning tornado sirens in Sedgwick County were an accident."