West Allis residents say tornado warning sirens did not activate during Tuesday night's severe weather, and Milwaukee County's Office of Emergency Management has confirmed an equipment failure.Nick Crneckiy, a West Allis residen t and weather enthusiast, said he noticed something was wrong while driving home from work during the storm."I was on my way home from work, and got the alert on my phone that there was a tornado warning, and I didn't hear the siren at Greenfield Park, like I normally would, and I thought that was kinda strange," said Crneckiy. "I reached out to TMJ4 because you your station is all about the community, listening to what viewers have concerns about and going forward and trying to dig for those answers," said Crneckiy.District Supervisor Justin Bielinski sent TMJ4 a statement from the Office of Emergency Management, which reads in part:"We are aware of an equipment failure that prevented some outdoor warning sirens from activating during Tuesday night's storms on August 18, 2026."The statement said the specific issue that caused the failure has been resolved and should not be a problem again.The county is also replacing all outdoor warning sirens due to aging infrastructure, with the new system expected to be complete in early 2027.Crneckiy said the timing of the failure and repairs raises deeper concerns."Could this have been prevented? Did we need to start the upgrade process now in the heart of severe weather season?" asked Crneckiy.Watch: West Allis resident raises concerns after tornado sirens fail during severe weather West Allis resident raises concerns after tornado sirens fail during severe weatherThere have been 47 tornadoes in Wisconsin this year more than double the state average, according to the National Weather Service.The OEM urges people to use smartphone alerts, weather radios, local news, or weather apps to stay informed. But Crneckiy said not everyone has access to those options."There are still those people who rely on these outdoor sirens. The homeless, people that don't have smartphones, like the elderly," said Crneckiy.TMJ4 reached out and stopped by the OEM, looking for more information, but did not get a response. TMJ4 will continue to follow this story and provide updates from OEM.The full statement from OEM reads:"We are aware of an equipment failure that prevented some outdoor warning sirens from activating during Tuesday night's storms on August 18, 2026.The Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is currently in the process of replacing all of the outdoor warning sirens in Milwaukee County due to aging infrastructure. Approximately half of the sirens have been replaced and are currently operating on the new system. The remaining sirens are still using the old system during this transition, but are still active. These older sirens are more prone to failures, which reinforces the need to complete the full system replacement.The specific issue that caused Tuesday nights equipment failure has been identified and resolved. OEM does not anticipate a reoccurrence. The countywide transition to the new siren system is expected to be complete in early 2027. During severe weather, residents are encouraged to rely on multiple sources of information rather than sirens alone, since any single source can fail. Ensure your smartphone is enabled to receive Wireless Emergency Alerts, tune in to a NOAA Weather Radio or local news for real-time updates, or download a weather app with push notifications enabled."Its about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for TMJ4 on your device.Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.Report a typo or error // Submit a news tip ...read more read less