Deadly Illinois tornadoes raise questions of preparation

ROCHELLE, Ill. (WLS) -- According to emergency plans obtained by the I-Team, in Ogle County and DeKalb County, there's a 20 to 30 percent chance every year that a tornado will strike. Despite that, the town of Fairdale and the area of Rochelle that was hit have no tornado warning sirens.

"We're obviously very large county and with that comes significant costs," says Brian VanVickle, Ogle County Sheriff. "You have to find the money some place."

VanVickle says he will review emergency plans, including sirens. He was elected a year ago, ousting incumbent sheriff Michael Harn. Before leaving, Sheriff Harn had to return thousands of dollars in federal emergency grant money because it wasn't spent on time.

"I have no idea what the requirements of that grant," he says. "All I know is that they were refunded, I found that through FOIAs myself during the election cycle. His spending in general was an issue during the election cycle and that was just one part of it."

Ex-Sheriff Harn tells the I-Team his grant spending was approved by the state.

Harn says expanding county sirens was never suggested and that after 25 years the system "may not be perfect but it has saved lives."

Ogle County does have a tornado problem. The likelihood of a strike here is 31 percent in any twister season.

According to the county's current state filing, western Ogle is more vulnerable, but the overall risk relatively low unless there is a direct hit. For Rochelle, that hit was Thursday night.