Franklin County's 198 outdoor warning sirens activated Saturday night during a tornado warning, audible across Dublin and the rest of the county. Four days earlier, when 82 mph winds struck the region during what forecasters called a derecho on Aug. 11, those same sirens never sounded.

Now officials are discussing whether to change that.

The Aug. 11 storm, which the National Weather Service later confirmed spawned an EF1 tornado on Columbus's south side, did not trigger the county's siren network because no tornado warning was issued at the time. Jeff Young, director of the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency, told 10TV on Aug. 12 that the agency activates sirens only when the NWS in Wilmington issues a tornado warning.

"We need to continue to spread the message that severe thunderstorm warnings and straight-line winds can carry the same punch," Young said.

The contrast sharpened Aug. 15, when the NWS issued a tornado warning for Franklin County from 10:30 to 11:30 p.m. after radar detected rotation near Groveport. All four siren zones activated. As of Aug. 17, NOAA had not confirmed whether a tornado actually struck central Ohio that night.

The back-to-back events have pushed the policy question into the open. NBC4 reported Monday that the Aug. 11 tornado "sparked discussion as to if Franklin County should adjust its outdoor warning siren policies."

No national standard governs when outdoor sirens must sound. Each municipality sets its own rules. Athens County, for example, activates sirens not only for tornado warnings but also for severe thunderstorm warnings or when officials determine an imminent threat of winds exceeding 58 mph.

Franklin County's system, one of the largest siren networks in the country, is divided into four zones aligned with NWS boundaries. Under current policy, those sirens stay silent unless a tornado warning is formally issued.

NWS meteorologist Christine Aiena told WOSU on Aug. 13 that the Aug. 11 tornado was a "very quick spin-up tornado" already causing damage by the time it appeared on radar. Young told the same outlet that the siren system "is just one tool of a larger alerting and warning strategy."

Young urged Dublin-area residents not to rely solely on outdoor sirens. He said residents should monitor Wireless Emergency Alerts on their phones, watch local news during threatening weather and treat severe thunderstorm warnings as life-safety events.

As we reported Aug. 12, the siren silence during the Aug. 11 storm raised immediate questions from residents. No formal timeline for a policy decision has been announced, and Franklin County has not scheduled a public hearing on the matter.