The National Weather Service hasn’t confirmed any tornadoes in the area Saturday night. Nor were there any NWS tornado warnings. Sirens sounded though in some communities including Ottawa, Peru, and Spring Valley. Ottawa Police Chief Brent Roalson says given the strong winds, wind damage, heavy rain, and two citizen reports of funnels, alerting the public was the right thing to do.
Peru Police Chief Doug Bernabei issued a statement saying the sirens shouldn’t be thought of just as tornado sirens. Plus, he says if the police had waited for confirmation of a tornado and there had actually been one, it might have been too late.