Emergency Warning Sirens Sound By Mistake In Several Northwest Suburbs
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A malfunction was to blame for the sound of emergency warning sirens on Thursday in several northwest suburbs.
The National Weather Service reported that the sirens activated in the Hoffman Estates area on Thursday afternoon. They were being tested and inadvertently went off, and should be disregarded, the NWS said.
We've received word of tornado sirens activated in the Hoffman Estates area. They were being tested and the sirens were inadvertently set off. Please disregard. The main thunderstorm threats at this time are lightning strikes and very heavy downpours. #ilwx https://t.co/wsGgykaMKG
— NWS Chicago (@NWSChicago) June 24, 2021
There is no weather emergency or other emergency of any kind, and the main threats from the rainstorms on Thursday afternoon were lightning strikes and very heavy downpours.
The Village of Schaumburg also confirmed with the Northwest Central Dispatch System that its sirens went off as a result of a malfunction at 1:23 p.m. Thursday.
The Village of Schaumburg has confirmed with Northwest Central Dispatch System that the tornado sirens that went off in the last hour were the result of a malfunction. There is no weather emergency at this time (1:23pm, Thursday, June 24).
— Village of Schaumburg (@SchaumburgIL) June 24, 2021
Mount Prospect reported the same happened there.
— Mount Prospect Fire (@MountProspectFD) June 24, 2021
All this, of course, comes about five days after storms late Sunday night resulted in at least three tornadoes in the Chicago area – including an EF-3 tornado that caused serious damage to neighborhoods in Woodridge and Naperville in particular.
The Daily Herald reported that the Northwest Central Dispatch System is investigating why sirens in Elk Grove Village and Mount Prospect did not go off during the storms Sunday night. While no tornadoes touched down in those areas, they were placed under a tornado warning and the sirens should have sounded, the newspaper reported.