KAUKAUNA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – An EF-1 tornado was on the ground in Kaukauna for four minutes Tuesday night, the National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed Wednesday.
But the city’s tornado sirens never sounded — and many people want to know why.
“Unfortunately, in this particular case, [NWS] did not have the city of Kaukauna under a tornado warning, and that’s the simple answer to the question. We weren’t under a warning, therefore the sirens don’t sound,” said Jake Carrel, who serves as Kaukauna’s fire chief and the city’s emergency manager.
Like much of Northeast Wisconsin, the Kaukauna area was under a severe thunderstorm warning, but a tornado warning was never issued. Days later, residents are still cleaning up the damage left behind.
Carrel said this is a serious reminder about the importance of staying alert when severe weather situations arise.
I think it underscores the importance of being prepared and watching the weather. We did have advanced notice of the storm coming and it did arrive when forecasters said it would arrive, and I think that is why we see no injuries in this event because a lot of people did heed those warnings. I still encourage everyone — weather radios, your cell phone, it all matters, but weather is unpredictable and we saw that the other night.
According to the NWS, the tornado hit touched down in Kaukauna from 8:57 to 9:01 p.m. Its path was 1.36 miles long and 50 yards wide, and it brought maximum wind speeds of 95 miles per hour.
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