Tornado siren activated accidentally in DuPage County for second time this week

A tornado siren was unintentionally activated for the second time this week in DuPage County. 

The DuPage Public Safety Communications said the siren was "not part of a planned test." Officials said the incident is under investigation. 

Officials in Villa Park, Wheaton, and Addison warned residents of the accidental activation just before 10 a.m.

Early Tuesday morning, DuPage County residents were woken up by tornado sirens. The sirens were accidentally activated by a DU-COMM staff member around 3 a.m. during a planned system test.

The test was supposed to check the technology without the sirens going out.

DU-Comm released a statement issuing an apology, saying in part: 

"As soon as the error was realized, DU-COMM staff deactivated the sirens. DU-COMM recognizes and appreciates the trust its member agencies and the public place in us, and we regret that our error caused unnecessary interruption or confusion. We sincerely apologize." 

The agency normally tests the sirens on the first Tuesday of the month at 10 a.m.

DuPage County residents worry about losing faith in tornado sirens

Meghan Brazier and her 11-year-old daughter, Willow, heard the tornado siren go off in Downers Grove.

"I was confused, because I was, like, thinking, did they accidentally do it again? Because it looked … there was no … it was not storming outside," Willow said.

Meghan is a content creator and posted a video on Facebook, taking DuPage County officials to task for accidentally activating the sirens again.

"I just feel like this is not something we should be playing around with right now, especially because we've had so many severe storms come through, and loss of life and property," she said. "I worry that, in the future, that no one takes it seriously anymore. You know, it's just, like, becomes a joke."

Meghan isn't alone. People living in Villa Park also wondered if the next time they hear a siren, is it going to be a warning of real danger or another false alarm?

Danielle Guerrero said when she looked outside after hearing Friday's tornado siren, she decided to ignore it, because this was the second false alarm in four days.

"If that was a real siren and there was a real storm, how many others are having that same train of thought?" she said.

CBS News Chicago meteorologist David Yeomans said tornado sirens are the only way some people receive warnings.

"A lot of people rely on these sirens to wake them up if there is an emergency," he said.

DuPage Public Safety Communications Deputy Director Tyler Benjamin said, "We understand erroneous activations can undermine public trust in the warning system."

"It is still important for the public to take shelter and turn to a news source in the event of a siren activation," he added.

Villa Park Trustee Jorge Cordova said two false alarms in less than a week is more than an inconvenience.

"These are emergency warning systems that residents need to be able to trust," he said.

Villa Park resident Jessica Vander Naald echoed Cordova's sentiment.

"I hope they can figure it out soon so that people don't accidentally, the next time it is real think they shouldn't go to the basement or go to somewhere safe," she said.

How do outdoor tornado sirens work?

Meteorologist David Yeomans says when it comes to the outdoor sirens across the Chicagoland area, the National Weather Service first issues warnings. Then it's up to each city and municipality to decide what to do with the information, including whether or not to activate warnings.

"There is technology for full automation when a warning is issued for your area that can trigger an alert, but it's really city and municipality-dependent," he said.

Yeomans says that some sirens still involve manual activation. 

He adds that if sirens are heard, out of caution, go indoors, seek additional information and have multiple ways to receive warnings.