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Posted: Apr 04, 2024 9:22 AMUpdated: Apr 04, 2024 9:45 AM
Siren System Failure During Ochelata Tornado
Tom Davis
During Monday night's storms, tornadoes touched down in five spots in our area. One of those tornadoes touched down near Ochelata. Although the emergency sirens went off in Bartlesville, the sirens in Ochelata never sounded.
Bartlesville Radio spoke with Washington County Emergency Management Director Kary Cox about the lack of a siren alert in Ochelata. Cox said, "It wasn't a siren issue, it was a system malfunction." He added, "The system worked during testing but failed in real time. The failure of a component was found immediately. That component has been replaced and the system is back to working properly.
That tornado began at 7:49 p.m., Monday evening about 3 miles northwest of Ochelata. It traveled nearly 5 miles, crossed over Highway 75 and then dissipated 4 miles northeast of Ochelata. Maximum winds observed were measured at 110 mph.
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