OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The county says the company contracted to program the auto-activation system, American Signal, made a programming error caused by a typo when entering data into the system.
- At the beginning of 2025, the Douglas County Emergency Management Agency started using a new siren technology system.
- There was no tornado threat Monday night, but the area where the sirens were activated in northwest Omaha was under a thunderstorm warning issued by the National Weather Service.
- Douglas County Emergency Management says it is working closely with American Signal to make sure this type of error doesn't happen again.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
On Monday night, tornado sirens in the northwest parts of Douglas County activated—but there wasn't a tornado. Now, officials are explaining what went wrong with their new system.
At the beginning of 2025, the Douglas County Emergency Management Agency started using a new siren technology system. This system will automatically activate sirens in a specific area in the county where winds are 80 miles per hour or more, or storms produce hail larger than 2.75 inches.
On Monday night, neither of those threats were the case, yet sirens still sounded. The county says the company contracted to program the auto-activation system, American Signal, made a programming error caused by a typo when entering data into the system.
"It was essentially, you know, human error on the front end and it's been repaired and we're just glad they work. We're glad the automated system works," said Mike Friend, Douglas County commissioner for district 7.
There was no tornado threat Monday night, but the area where the sirens were activated in northwest Omaha was under a thunderstorm warning issued by the National Weather Service.
Douglas County Emergency Management says it is working closely with American Signal to make sure this type of error doesn't happen again.
