Crime & Safety
Sirens Don't Sound, Bartow Man Dies During Overnight Tornado
The National Weather Service said an apparent tornado knocked a tree onto a house overnight, killing a 34-year-old Cartersville man.
CARTERSVILLE, GEORGIA — A man died early Monday morning in Cartersville when a tree fell on his bedroom during what was later determined to be a tornado, according to reports from multiple media outlets. The Daily Tribune News is reporting that weather-alert sirens didn't sound at the time because of a lapse in protocol by a Bartow County 911 employee.
The dead man is identified as William McConnell, 34, of Cartersville, who died of injuries when a tree fell on his house on Fite Street near Moore’s Market, WBHF Community Radio reported on its Facebook page. McConnell probably died of multiple blunt-force traumas, according to Bartow County Coroner Joel Guyton.
His death is one of at least eight reported in Georgia as tornadoes and thunderstorms tore through the Southeast on Easter Sunday night, killing at least 18 throughout the region. The National Weather Service later said an EF-0 tornado knocked the tree down into McConnell's bedroom. In response to severe weather damage throughout Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency Monday morning.
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Sheriff Clark Millsap told the The Daily Tribune News that the weather-alert siren was not activated because of failure to follow protocol in the 911 office.
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"They were extremely busy with all the calls coming in, and sometimes things get overlooked" Millsap told the newspaper Monday. "But we can’t put up with this kind of something being overlooked.”
Millsap said one employee had been reprimanded for the lapse, but he didn't say who or how. He added that the country encourages everyone not to rely only on the sirens because they weren't designed to be heard indoors.
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