MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Milwaukee County Supervisor Justin Bielinski said an equipment failure prevented some outdoor warning sirens from activating during Tuesday night's severe storms.

In a social media post Thursday, Bielinski said Milwaukee County and the City of Milwaukee are aware of the Aug. 18 failure and that the specific issue responsible for the malfunction has since been identified and resolved.

The Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management is currently replacing all of the county's outdoor warning sirens because of aging infrastructure.

According to Bielinski, approximately half of the sirens have been replaced and are operating on the new system. The remaining sirens continue to operate on the older system during the transition.

"These older sirens are more prone to failures, which reinforces the need to complete the full system replacement," Bielinski said.

OEM does not anticipate the same issue happening again, according to Bielinski.

The countywide transition to the new outdoor warning siren system is expected to be completed in early 2027.

Bielinski also encouraged residents not to rely solely on outdoor warning sirens during severe weather because any single alert system can fail.

"Ensure your smartphone is enabled to receive wireless emergency alerts, tune into a NOAA weather radio or local news for real-time updates, or download a weather app with push notifications enabled," Bielinski said.

Wisconsin has recorded 47 tornadoes so far in 2026, the second-highest total in a single year in state history. Most have been rated EF-0 or EF-1, while the state has also recorded two EF-2 tornadoes and four EF-3 tornadoes.

The state's record is 62 tornadoes, set in 2005.

CBS 58