Neighbors of the Anderson family, who lost their 12-year-old son Silas in Friday’s tornado in Cass County, say they never heard a tornado warning siren. Township officials say the tornado simply formed too quickly.
Milton Township Supervisor Eric Renken says the township has been working since 2018 to install as many tornado warning sirens as they can. They’re typically activated not by the township, but by the city of Niles, if the city receives an alert from the National Weather Service or decides to sound them because city personnel see something in the sky themselves.
Renken says the township has installed five sirens and plans to install five more as funds allow. He says they each cost over $28,000, and that need competes with other things like road maintenance.
”I don’t see right now how we could make it better," Renken said. "Unfortunately there was never an alert until after the touchdown. There was no indication of a tornado on radar so our weather science isn’t up there yet, in my opinion. I think we did the best with what we could at the time.”
Renken said he planned to meet with Cass County Emergency Management officials later Tuesday to see whether the township can help the agency be prepared for future severe weather.
