BRODHEAD — City of Brodhead officials said they were aware that outdoor warning sirens did not activate as expected during a tornado warning on Wednesday, April 15.
“We understand the concern this causes, and we want to ensure you are informed about the steps we are taking to keep Brodhead safe,” City officials said in a public statement April 16. “Our team is currently working closely with Green County Emergency Management and technicians to identify and resolve the technical glitch that prevented the remote activation.”
While they work on a permanent fix, emergency officials have established a fail-safe protocol to ensure city residents are warned.
“The sirens can be activated directly from the Brodhead Police Dispatch center. If a technical failure occurs again before the repairs are complete, our officers are prepared to manually activate the sirens at the tower locations,” the statement added. “Thank you for your patience and for looking out for one another. Your safety remains our top priority.”
Outdoor sirens are designed to warn people who are outdoors. For indoor notification, it is strongly encouraged to:
● Enable Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on smartphones.
● Monitor local weather apps or a NOAA Weather Radio.
● Follow the Brodhead Police Department page for real-time updates.
Rotation in storm cells from the Lena, Illinois area traveled northeast into Wisconsin around 6:30 p.m., prompting a tornado warning for southern Wisconsin for 45 minutes. Funnel clouds were seen just outside of Brodhead and continued toward Orfordville and Janesville.
The storm was one of many that hit the region over three straight days from Monday to Wednesday this week, April 13-15. Five tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service from April 14, with an EF3 near Union Center, an EF2 in the Town of Lisbon in Waukesha County, EF1s outside of Endeavor and East Troy, and an EF0 south of Beaver Dam.
Other tornado warnings impacted southwestern and south central Wisconsin stretching from Fennimore to Dodgeville, Blanchardville, Argyle, New Glarus and Monticello. To the south, a strong tornadic system crossed the Mississippi River from Iowa into Illinois and caused tornado warnings across Jo Daviess, Carroll, Stephenson, Ogle and Winnebago counties on back-to-back nights.
Large hail, straight line winds and flash flooding caused damage to structures from the Northwoods to Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee. Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan were also hit with severe weather. In fact, the dangerous outbreak stretched from New York state through the Ohio Valley and south into Indiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
The string of storms across the region, which was forecasted to continue on Friday, April 17, had Wisconsin Emergency Management cancel its scheduled state-wide siren tests on April 16.