Some Dunwoody residents want tornado sirens - Fox5

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Some residents in Dunwoody say there's no system in place to warm them when dangerous weather is approaching.

Dunwoody was under tornado warning last Thursday when this damage was done, but resident Gerri Penn said that none of the neighbors heard sirens.

"The only reason we went to our basement was because our son happened to be watching TV and called us and told us there was a tornado warning for Dunwoody," Penn said.

The National Weather Service reports that an EF-1 tornado lifted just before getting to Dunwoody, but severe winds still did damage. Throughout Dunwoody, trees fell on houses, roofs were crushed and cars were reduced to rubble.

"If this had happened in the middle of the night, houses like that where someone could have been sleeping -- we could be dealing with injuries or worse. And I think this should be a wakeup call for the city of Dunwoody," Penn said.

The area hasn't had tornado sirens since DeKalb County sold them to Cobb County in the 1980s. Dunwoody City Councilmember Denny Shortal said that he'd like to see sirens in the city, but the last time it came up for vote, it didn't pass. He wants the issue addressed again, believing with Dunwoody's history with severe weather, they could make a big difference.

"Every indication that I have, they have an indication that they could save lives," Shortal said. "In my opinion, tornadoes are the number one thing that could cause a high number of casualties or injuries amongst our citizens."

However, some residents told FOX 5's Julia Reynolds that they don't want sirens because they don't want their taxes to increase.

Dunwoody does have a code alert system. It's a phone app, but a lot of the people said they did not get the alerts until after the storm was already out of here.