Ferocious winds that spawned a tornado in Downers Grove on Tuesday night were serious enough to prompt village officials to end a council meeting a few minutes early.
But warning sirens in the community remained silent, which upsets residents such as Jan Hart.
“I’m irritated,” she said Thursday, after spending two days clearing debris around the two homes she owns that were in the path of the small tornado. “Tuesday morning (the sirens) worked just fine when they tested them, interrupting your TV shows.”
Tornado warning sirens sounded throughout the Chicago area, but not in Downers Grove or Mount Prospect, the other community struck by a twister.
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In both cases, tornadoes about 200 yards wide traveled roughly two miles, toppling trees, tossing lawn furniture and knocking down power lines.
In the wake of the storm that raked the Chicago area, it was apparent Thursday there was wide disparity throughout the suburbs on whether to sound sirens. In addition to Downers Grove and Mount Prospect, sirens were silent in Libertyville and Lake Zurich.
But Naperville, St. Charles, Elmwood Park, River Forest and Oak Park sounded storm alerts, as did Northfield, Northbrook and Wilmette.
National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Nelson said the agency issues tornado warnings for areas — not individual municipalities — and leaves the decision about sounding sirens to the discretion of each community.
“We have no say in that,” Nelson said. “All we do is issue the warnings. Once it leaves this office, it’s out of our control.”
In Mount Prospect, officials at the Northwest Central Dispatch, an emergency communication system, decided against sounding the village’s six sirens because information did not predict a tornado and no funnel cloud was spotted, said Mount Prospect fire Chief John Malcolm.
“If they (National Weather Service) inform us there is a tornado warning, we set it off,” said Amy Kosinsky, acting deputy director of the West Suburban Consolidated Dispatch Center in River Forest. The center manages police, fire and emergency dispatch services for Oak Park, Elmwood Park and River Forest.
Naperville Emergency Management Coordinator Dan Nelson said the city’s policy is to activate the sirens when it’s included in a National Weather Service tornado warning.
But he and other officials throughout the suburbs said the sirens are designed to alert only people who are outdoors.
In Downers Grove, officials said the sirens are turned on only when a funnel cloud is spotted. But Tuesday’s storms hit in the evening.
Asked how officials could see a funnel cloud in the dark, Village Manager Dave Fieldman said the clouds have such a distinct appearance that they are unmistakable.
Downers Grove Mayor Martin Tully said the village will review its siren activation requirements given the scope of the damage.
“There’s no question about it,” Tully said, “this has been quite a learning experience for everybody.”
But he took issue with critics of the village’s response, saying they are playing “Monday morning quarterback.”
Genelle Williams, of Downers Grove, who was cleaning brush from her yard Thursday, said she didn’t know how to feel about the absence of warning sirens.
“A warning wouldn’t have prevented this,” she said, gesturing to her wrecked yard.
Tribune reporters James Jaworski, Mick Swasko and Ted Gregory contributed.