Today, a menacing spectacle of nature swept the Chicago area as severe thunderstorms unleashed their fury.
Raging showers occasionally lifted to reveal a swirling nightmare: as many as eight tornadoes were reported across the Chicago area.
From my vantage point, I saw the unrelenting spectacle unfold, my awe and fear intermingling.
The tornado sirens pierced through the chaotic weather soundscape, their eerie wails heralding impending disaster like Morlocks calling Eloi to dinner. They seemed weird, unearthly – akin to a mournful cry from another world, broadcasting a clear message: seek shelter; danger is imminent.
The sirens’ haunting resonance became the city’s heartbeat, lending a surreal rhythm to the scene. A chorus of warnings and despair reverberated through the windswept town, adding a minus undertone to the day’s frightening spectacle.
Tornado sirens are genuinely a reminder of the fragile boundary between civilization and the raw power of nature.
Have you witnessed a tornado? Been in one?
L.T. Hanlon 
That is a very eery sound. Does Chicago test their alarms once a month? The west burbs of Chicago (specifically, Glen Ellyn), they run the tornado alarm at 10am every Tuesday.
The only time I recall hearing Chicago test their alarms was the time I drove downtown to pick up all my office items when the Tribune decided to go 100% work-from-home during the pandemic.
(and I’ve never witnessed a tornado)
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Chicago also tests its entire siren system for 30 seconds at 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday of every month.
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