A member of Amherstburg council is raising questions after severe weather hit the town last month.
Diane Pouget believes the tornado sirens should have been triggered September 25 when violent storms hit the region, producing a confirmed tornado near McGregor.
She says, unfortunately, it was U.S. news media that kept residents the most up to date.
"No emergency notification to our residents of Amherstburg. Fox 2 kept updating us to take cover for the Town of Amherstburg and the Town of LaSalle and yet, there was absolutely no notification from the Town of Amherstburg," says Pouget.
Amherstburg Fire Chief Bruce Montone says with the information they had there was no reason to activate the sirens.
"We didn't receive any warnings other than what was sent out by Environment Canada and those warning were very non-specific in terms of location," says Montone. "It said Southwestern Ontario. Southwestern Ontario is an area that stretches from Niagara Falls to Amherstburg."
Pouget says any residents she spoke to were upset with the lack of response as well.
We heard from numerous residents that were very unhappy with the fact that they were given absolutely no notification," she says. "They only learned about it by children calling them or family members calling them and that's very, very disturbing to people because this could have been a real disaster."
Amherstburg Fire Chief Bruce Montone (Photo by AM800's Zander Broeckel)
Chief Montone says the only alert specifically naming Amherstburg that night was a thunderstorm warning.
"If we repeated every emergency weather warning that was received, how long would it take before people ignored the sirens when they really need to pay attention? We're not a weather service and those warning are not our responsibility, but that of the provincial and federal government," he says.
Montone adds, when the tornado sirens are sounded they only reach about 285 homes in the core of the town.
Some people did receive notification on their cell phones but it was hit and miss.
Environment Canada says the kinks are still being worked out of the public alert system.
He says the best way to say on top of severe weather is through the 'Amherstburg Alert' system.
Residents can subscribe to alerts through the town's website.
— with files from AM800's Rob Hindi