Naperville launches investigation after tornado warning sirens fail to activate

Naperville’s warning sirens were not activated before or during the tornado Saturday morning, and city officials are investigating why.

City officials released a statement Monday explaining that Naperville’s outdoor warning sirens are automatically activated by notifications from the National Weather Service.

Preliminary reports from the weather service indicate an EF-0 tornado moved through southern Naperville for 4.5 miles between 5:40 a.m. and 5:46 a.m.

City staff determined the National Weather Service never issued a tornado warning for the Naperville area before or during the six minutes, which is why the sirens did not activate until after the tornado passed.

Immediately following the tornado in Naperville, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning at 5:47 a.m., which included parts of southern Naperville in northern Will County, as the storm headed toward Romeoville, according to the city.

Naperville’s Emergency Management Agency says the city’s sirens should have sounded at that time. But the sirens did not activate, which is why city staff is investigating the cause with extreme urgency.

City officials said they share the concerns of residents and business owners and are “committed to fully investigating the issue and remedying it as well as thoroughly reviewing internal policies and procedures around our outdoor warning systems.”

Saturday’s tornado with winds peaking near 85 mph began at 5:40 a.m. within the city limits of Aurora in DuPage County on the northwest side of the White Eagle Golf Club where storm assessors found a dozen golf carts damaged, several trees snapped, and tree limbs downed.

The National Weather Service report shows the tornado tracked southeast into Naperville and Will County where trees were snapped and roofing was ripped off at the shopping plaza at Route 59 and 95th Street.

Additional damage was found near Neuqua Valley High School where bleachers were tossed and fences blown down.

The tornado then tracked into a subdivision at 103rd Street, damaging more trees before it lifted in the vicinity of 119th Street and Book Road.

The city said residents can receive weather alerts inside their homes by purchasing a weather radio or downloading an app or activating Wireless Emergency Alerts on their smartphones.

Public Works is conducting a special brush collection this week for the hardest-hit areas in the southwest portion of the city, which are indicated on an interactive boundary map found at naperville.il.us/yardwaste.

Residents in the special collection boundary are asked to place brush and tree debris on the parkway in front of their property to help facilitate pickup.

Crews will make multiple passes throughout the week to collect brush through Friday.

After Friday, any remaining brush on private property can be disposed of through the city’s weekly yard waste program or through a privately contracted tree removal company.

If a parkway tree on public property sustained damage from the storm, residents are urged to contact Public Works at (630) 420-6095 to report it or submit a service request online. Crews will address these trees in the coming weeks.

Saturday’s storm produced the second tornado to hit in Naperville in the last 13 months.

The last tornado to come through Naperville occurred the night of June 1, 2021.

At its peak, it was an EF-3 with sustained wind speeds as high as 140 mph. Several people were injured and 231 structures in Naperville were severely damaged, 19 of which were deemed uninhabitable by the city.

subaker@tribpub.com