Two MetroSafe supervisors suspended for not sounding sirens
Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 4:58 pm
http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/B2/20 ... ing-sirens
Not sure why the local news media is reporting this since Louisville isn't exactly "northern Kentucky" (at least not to people in this area), but it is Kentucky-related, so I guess that counts.Two MetroSafe Communications supervisors who the city says failed to sound outdoor warning sirens during a February storm in which a tornado touched down in eastern Jefferson County have been suspended for five days without pay.
Edward Cox and DeAnna Glynn were suspended for violating ?standards of ethical conduct, general inefficiency and neglect of duty,? according to documents from Doug Hamilton, the Louisville Metro Emergency Management director, recommending the suspensions.
The supervisors will begin serving the suspensions next week, Hamilton said in an email Thursday.
The outdoor warning sirens weren?t sounded on the morning of Feb. 28 ? despite the National Weather Service issuing a tornado warning for the county.
A report reviewed by Mayor Greg Fischer and the Metro Council in March cited problems with technology and confusion inside the dispatch center after the tornado warning was issued at 4:31 a.m. as reasons the sirens weren?t sounded, but ultimately it placed the blame on the supervisors who it said could have triggered the sirens manually when monitoring TV and radio reports.
The report, which was by Hamilton, said Cox and Glynn should have known there was a tornado warning and triggered the system.
Hamilton recommended the suspensions to Louisville Metro Human Resources on March 25, according to records.
In recommending the suspensions, Hamilton wrote that both Cox and Glynn neglected their duties by ?failing to properly monitor, prepare, or react to an on-going severe weather situation when a Tornado Warning was issued for Jefferson County ? this failure eroded the public?s trust in government?s ability to keep them safe.?
In the fallout over the siren mishap, the city made changes to its emergency communications, including testing weather alert encoders at MetroSafe that failed to pick up signals from the National Weather Service indicating there was a tornado warning. The city also replaced weather radios and changed antennas.
Supervisors are now equipped to receive text alerts on cell phones and e-mail notifications from the weather service, and flashing lights now go off during weather service alerts.
Reporter Chris Quay can be reached at (502) 582-4241.