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Sounding the alarm on no siren

As a fast-approaching storm zeroed in on southwest Minnesota Thursday evening the emergency sirens went off in Minneota.

Linda Nuytten could hear the sirens and she told an Independent reporter she rushed into the utility room inside her Minneota residence. Nuytten was interviewed as she helped cleanup the fallen tree branches outside Hope Lutheran Church. She joined residents throughout Minneota and Ghent area that spent Friday morning cleaning up blown down trees and flooded basements. The destructive winds even blew off the roof at the Minneota Auto Center.

Fortunately, there were no serious injuries that resulted from the storm in Minneota that we know of. Residents heard the sirens and dashed to safety.

Unfortunately, residents in Marshall didn’t get the same warning.

The City of Marshall did post on its Facebook page that “the sirens are sounding because of the expected 80 mph straight-line wind gusts.”

“If you are outdoors, seek shelter indoors immediately,” the post warned.

The unfortunate part of the post is that the sirens never went off.

Later in the evening, the City of Marshall posted a response to a concern citizen about the sirens not going off.

“This is still under investigation,” was the response.

Marshall Public Safety Director Jim Marshall also told the Independent on Friday that there will be an investigation. He told a reporter that it was possible the system may have been overwhelmed due to the large volume of emergency communications across Lyon County.

“We’re trying to discern the best way to move forward,” he said.

He also stated that he was confident the sirens will work in the future.

That’s good to hear.

But it’s still concerning that sirens went off in a small Lyon County community like Minneota, but failed in the larger community of Marshall. We need assurances that such an important service that could save lives in a situation such as tornado striking the city will work.

Yes, many of us have weather apps on our phones that do a pretty good job with alerting of approaching storms. But not everyone subscribes to such services. Yes, TV and radio stations also provide viewers and listeners with such warnings. But those services may not be available for someone outside.

That is why it’s urgent the city gets to the bottom of this unfortunate technical glitch before another big storm arrives.

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