In most of the Midwest, sirens are a no brainer. So, Does Rockford have a brain?

January 17th, 2008 at 10:00am Chuck Sweeny

The article in today’s paper about tornado sirens causes me to drive home a point I’ve stressed before in columns: We need warning sirens throughout  Winnebago County.

Yes, we’ve had a bad tornado here. It was in the 1920s and it tore out several factories in southeast Rockford. Belvidere installed tornado sirens after the 1967 twister that killed 24 people.

What amazes me is the resistance that comes from our “emergency” bureaucracies around here when the topic of sirens comes up.

Increasingly, I’m believing that Rockford just isn’t prepared for the modern world and doesn’t plan on doing anything about getting there.

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