Above / Midafternoon, the Jewel-Osco shopping center located along Route 59 toward 95th Street showed evidence of storm damage with downed and broken trees as well as shingles and sheet metal strewn throughout the property. (PN Photo)
Preliminary National Weather Service (NWS) reports indicate that a tornado touched down in a portion of south Naperville at approximately 5:41AM today, July 23, 2022. NWS assessments of this storm are ongoing.
No injuries or residential structural damage have been reported; however, isolated reports of storm damage, mainly damaged trees, have been made throughout south Naperville. The majority of the damage was reported along the Route 59 corridor from approximately White Eagle Drive south past Hassert Boulevard. This includes tree damage as well as roof damage to and multiple gas leaks within a commercial building near the intersection of Route 59 and 95th Street. There are no longer any active gas leaks as of the timing of this release.
Additional damage included a dozen roads blocked by fallen trees or limbs, minor flooding issues and a power outage in the area of Washington Street and Gartner Road caused by fallen tree branches. Power was restored to all 253 customers by 7:05AM, and the last remaining road closures on Robert Lane and Gleneagles Road are expected to be reopened by mid-afternoon.
City crews continue to survey and address storm damage and will communicate at a later date whether a special brush pick up will be conducted for any of the significantly impacted areas.
When severe weather is forecast, be prepared to stay safe…
Additional potentially severe weather is forecasted later today into the overnight hours of Sunday, July 24. Residents are encouraged to check the National Weather Service for the latest daily forecast information.
Residents are asked to call (630) 420-6187 to report flooded roadways, blocked streets or damaged parkway trees. In an emergency, dial 9-1-1.
July 25, 2022 / Query from PN reader sent to NPD Communications for reply
Have you heard any explanations from the City Emergency Management Office why they did not sound the tornado sirens yesterday? I live very close to the path of the tornado and none of the tornado sirens were sounded. I have talked to many others in various subdivisions and nobody heard any sirens.. we do hear them tested each week… but they were not sounded yesterday. I even went outside to listen for the sirens.. but heard nothing. Luckily, I got a notification on my phone so we went to the basement for safety. Luckily.. this tornado was not very strong.. no homes were destroyed.. but without the sirens.. people could have been injured or killed.
July 26, 2022 / Official Reply from the City of Naperville
The safety of our community is a top priority for the City of Naperville. As such, we feel it is necessary to address questions and concerns about Naperville’s outdoor warning sirens and why they did not activate on the morning of Saturday, July 23, 2022.
Naperville’s outdoor warning sirens are automatically activated by notifications from the National Weather Service. Preliminary reports from the National Weather Service indicate that the EF-0 tornado hit Naperville between 5:40 and 5:46AM City staff have determined that the National Weather Service never issued a tornado warning for the Naperville area before or during this time, which is why the sirens did not activate before or during this tornado.
Immediately following the tornado in Naperville, the National Weather Service did issue a tornado warning at 5:47AM as the storm headed toward Romeoville. That warning included parts of southern Naperville in northern Will County, and the City’s Emergency Management Agency believes that Naperville’s sirens should have sounded at that time. The sirens did not activate, and City staff is currently investigating why with extreme urgency.
The City of Naperville is committed to fully investigating the issue and remedying it as well as thoroughly reviewing internal policies and procedures around our outdoor warning systems. We also encourage all residents and business owners to investigate additional means to receive weather alerts inside their homes, such as purchasing a weather radio, downloading an app or activating Wireless Emergency Alerts on your smart phone.
