BROWN COUNTY (WLUK) — If a tornado siren goes off, do you know what to do?
Despite a lot of reminders, when the sirens went off early Sunday morning in Brown and Outagamie counties, some people called dispatch not knowing where to go.
Dispatch “Brown County 911 what’s your emergency?”
Caller: “I don’t have an emergency, I don’t know where to go with the tornado warning and I’m camping.”
As the tornado sirens sounded Sunday morning, the Brown County Dispatch Center’s phones started ringing.
Caller: “We heard the sirens go off are we in a tornado warning or not? They just turned off?”
Dispatch: “There is a tornado warning in our area, yes.”
“If the sirens are going off you can assume that there is an emergency. Do not call us, go into your basement or the lowest level interior of your house,” said Cullen Peltier, the Director of the Brown County Department of Public Safety Communications.
Peltier explained the dispatch center received 20-25 non-emergency calls Sunday morning. Those calls he says, takes away resources from actual emergencies.
“It ties up resources for the person having a heart attack, or the person that fell off the ladder, of whatever it may be,” explained Peltier.
A majority of the phone calls were from people living in apartment complexes.
Caller: “If I live in an upper level would it be best to go in the bathroom?”
Dispatch: “Yes, ma’am, if you don’t have access to a basement or something on the ground make your way to the most interior room.”
Even a hotel called to find out what to do with guests.
“I think it’s incumbent on landlords and businesses to have things in place, signage, notifying the residents when they move in, where to go when there is severe weather,” said Peltier.
The county says thankfully storm damage was limited.
“The take away is that they need to have a plan in place for their families. They need to know where they need to go,” Peltier explained.
Pletier added, the next time you hear tornado sirens, don’t call 911 and get to a basement or a room away from the windows.
Emergency management officials throughout the area say families should not only have an emergency plan, but also practice that plan.
By Courtney Ryan, FOX 11 News Monday, June 27th 2016
Picture: Brown County Sheriff’s Office
