Warning sirens countywide were first activated as a group, or a “stack,” at the center at 5:49 p.m., with law enforcement notified of the warning via the computer-aided dispatch system BOLO and radio broadcast at 5:51 p.m. The sirens were re-activated at 5:59 p.m. per standard procedure (every 10 minutes until the warning is lifted), Busch said.
Busch said the center was notified at 6:01 p.m. by Tipp City police that sirens were not sounding. So they were immediately activated separately.
He said later Thursday there is no verification process when the sirens are activated.
“Somehow theirs (Tipp City’s) was bumped out of the stack,” Busch told the county commissioners, saying sirens were tested in the monthly test process earlier in the day Wednesday and no reports of issues were received. System consultants were visiting the Communication Center to look into the issue Thursday, Busch said.
On Thursday afternoon, Busch said the call about no siren came from a police officer, adding that police were changing shifts and not likely outside at time. He said technical checks of system indicated the sirens did work.
A Dayton Daily News reporter who was in Tipp City near I-75 and Ohio 571 said the sirens were audible there at 5:49 p.m., before any severe weather was visible.
The Tipp City Fire Department reported it was called out for service at 6:08 p.m. Wednesday. Emergency responders found a large debris field, multiple blown electric transformers and collapse of the northeast corner of the Meijer Distribution Center building, Emergency Services Chief Cameron Haller said.
About 400 Tipp City electric customers were affected by power outages. Power was restored in the area of Meijer around 1 a.m. Thursday. Crews were working Thursday morning on a feed line on Third Street between impacted buildings in another industrial area that was hit, said City Manager Tim Eggleston.
The city public works department also was finishing tree trimming on Third Street. No city-owned property was damaged by the storm.
The city will pick up any debris from residential properties if it is set at the curb, Eggleston said.
Vandalia, Bethel Twp., Troy and West Milton fire departments assisted Tipp City fire in various capacities along with Miami County sheriff’s deputies and Tipp City police.
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