IONIA COUNTY, Mich. — Tornado sirens sounded twice in Ionia County on Saturday, and they weren't supposed to the second time.
Shortly before 4:00pm, Ionia County Central Dispatch says the button to set off the sirens was accidentally "tripped" while staff was working to clean up and continue operations after a pipe had burst on Friday night.
A routine test of the sirens at noon on Saturday had already been performed.
"We do want to apologize for the sounding of the siren when it was not needed," Ionia Central Dispatch Director Lance Langdon said in a statement.
After the pipe burst on Friday, the newly remodeled dispatch center "looked like it had its own rain storm inside," Langdon added.
That night, a cleanup company removed wet insulation and water from the dispatch center's carpets after staff "worked quickly" to shut off the water and protect the equipment.
Work continued into Saturday when the center's radio vendor and IT department moved its workstations into a conference and training room.
Additional water damage remains.
"I do want to stress that with all the turmoil within the center, operations continued and will continue as we have repairs made to the dispatch center," Langdon said.
