JOHNSTON, Iowa - The city of Johnston is investigating why some of the sirens in its Outdoor Warning Sirens System failed to trigger during severe storms on Monday.
A EF-1 tornado touched down in Johnston Monday evening, uprooting some trees and leaving minor damage to some buildings.
The city noted in a statement that four of its Outdoor Warning Sirens were replaced earlier this month. It also said the two sources used to activate the sirens - radar and reports from first responders and trained spotters - alerted staff of the rapidly forming storm over Terra Park in the city.
Johnston officials are working with Polk County Emergency Management to find out where the miscommunication in the system occurred. The city said the Outdoor Warning Siren vendor will be onsite on Wednesday to examine what went wrong..
No one was injured in the storm.
The news release said Polk County dispatch manually activates the Outdoor Warning Sirens when severe weather meets the requirements in the county's warning siren activation policy.