Aug 5, 2008 5:33 pm US/Central
Some Say City's Emergency Storm Sirens Inaudible
Sirens Warned Residents To Take Cover In Fierce Winds, Rain
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
City emergency sirens were activated just before Monday night's tremendous storms surged through the area.
CBS 2's Mike Parker reports Tuesday evening it's a good deal drier and calmer and quieter here now than it was some 20 hours ago. That's when more than 100 emergency sirens around town blared their storm warnings.
The city's weather warning sirens were blaring near a jam-packed Wrigley Field just moments before the storm turned really ugly. Then a roaring deluge, whipped by high winds, tore into the corner of Clark and Addison streets.
Emergency Management and Communication Director Ray Orozco, with the click of a mouse, ordered those sirens to sound.
"With the information we had last night, with the wind, the rain and the lightning, it was the prudent thing to do and also with the funnel clouds on their way into the city of Chicago," Orozco said.
All 115 of the city's sirens went off. The idea was to warn people to take cover, much like the thousands who jammed the lower concourse at Wrigley Field in near ankle deep water.
Vanessa Uttaro did not take cover. Thinking YouTube, she grabbed her video camera and raced outside even as the sirens roared.
Sharon Llillard heard the sirens and did the right thing.
"I got very frightened, but then I tried to remember what we needed to do, so we immediately went to the basement, took our candles and radio and cell phone," Lillard said.
The sirens are spaced from one to two miles apart. The city says that's to ensure they can be heard everywhere.
But some residents of Lincoln Park and Bucktown say they didn't hear them well or at all Monday night. The city may be looking at that issue in the storm emergency post mortem officials are planning.
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