Residents with tone alert radios get weird message

[May 21, 2010]  HERMISTON, Ore. (AP) -- Hermiston, Ore., residents with tone alert radios activated for any emergencies at the Umatilla Chemical Depot may have been puzzled by a message just after 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The Tri-City Herald reported that the National Weather Service tried to send a warning on tone alert radios that a severe thunderstorm was approaching. The radios also are used for severe weather warnings.

For an unknown reason, the message residents received was a long silence followed by a few words in Spanish.

Umatilla County Emergency Management stresses there was no emergency at the depot.

The agency and the Weather Service office in Pendleton are working to figure out the cause of the glitch.

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Information from Tri-City Herald

[Associated Press]

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