STORM2K

Does anyone have Tornado Sirens in your area?

Irving has at least 19 sirens around the city (6 horns on one unit each). They're tested every first Wednesday of the month at 1:00PM CT. The sirens also sound the Westminster Chimes at Noon CT every day. When sounded in an emergency situation, the sirens sound a steady tone and this indicates that a tornado, large hail or high winds are imminent for the City of Irving.

The sirens rotate until alert/test is complete and the warning tone will fade as it rotates away from your location and will get louder as it turns back toward you. This will occur several times during the activation.

Living in Fort Walton the city itself doesnt have them, however Hurlburt AFB does have them and they sound regularly when inclement weather approaches. They are loud enough to be heard through a good part of town.

fwbbreeze

Our sirens were tested at noon today, but I heard them for the first time during a tornado warning last week. They're so deafening (probably from reverberating off all the concrete and glass) that I have to hold my ears shut.

I much prefer the Wed. noon test as opposed to the Saturday morning tests back in Indiana - I was awoken by those far too many times after a hard night of good ole college drinkin'.

We get a test Wednesdays at noon up here.

We had sirens where I grew up south of Kansas City. Far as I know, they're still blowing. I still can't get used to Houston with no sirens when a tornado warning is issued. Dave tells me Houston had them in the older parts of town as part of the old civil defense system from the cold war days, but they were long gone by the time I got here.

Nothing down here either, but Texas City has sirens for plant disasters. They emit high-low-high-low alternating blasts to advise people to shelter in place and then they blast a continuous tone when the all clear is given.

We don't have them here. We're on our own. lol

southerngale wrote:We don't have them here. We're on our own. lol

Ain't it the truth! At least we have flat terrain so we can see what's coming at us.

Nope, nothing in my area to alert me about the occasional F0 that touches down for two seconds before dissipating. We had a strong F1/weak F2 in August 2003 that caused quite a bit of damage, and of course there was the famous downtown Miami twister that went into Biscayne Bay a few years back, so it's possible. But the typical SoFla tornado report goes something like "A tornado touched down today at the intersection of X and Y and damaged a sign." I'm serious.

I'd better shut up now before karma bites me in the butt.

We have them; but when they go off, the "wail" is the one prescribed for "nuclear attack".

streetsoldier wrote:We have them; but when they go off, the "wail" is the one prescribed for "nuclear attack".

Yo Bill - how does the resident Ho like those sireens?

If she's anything like my 2, it's off to find a hidey hole at the first loud noise. Total wussies - both of 'em!

JenBayles wrote:We had sirens where I grew up south of Kansas City. Far as I know, they're still blowing. I still can't get used to Houston with no sirens when a tornado warning is issued. Dave tells me Houston had them in the older parts of town as part of the old civil defense system from the cold war days, but they were long gone by the time I got here.

Yep we did have those when I moved to Houston. first time they went off-the friday noon siren-SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME!!!!! I thought we were under nuclear attack!!! My friends had a good time with that!!!

Surprisingly, no tornado sirens in Jacksonville but I guess it would have be huge for everyone here to hear it.

No, the Nannerbelle wants to go out there and GET those things..."How DARE they make noise when I'm trying to get Daddy to go to bed/take me 'side/feed me/throw a Demo-cat/give me a belly-rub???"

Ours are tested every saturday at 10 am...last saturday when they were tested, they went off about 4-5 times.... crack sirens or something.

No sirens in Tampa.

Better have "fresh" batteries in that weather radio, here!
No siren of any kind! Alas, I'm with Kelly's town -
"we're on our own".....

We have sirens here in Memphis. Always have as long as I remember. What concerns me is from what I am read here and elsewhere is that many tornado prone cities do not, and that could be trouble. When the tornado hit Nashville in 1998, they had no sirens at all. Fortunately, there was only death, but it was someone who was outside and had no idea what was going on. They just installed sirens a year or two ago.

Here in Memphis one problem is the sirens go off for the entire county during a warning. For instance, a couple of weeks ago we had a tornado warning that traveled about 5 miles through the extreme southeast corner of the county, but the sirens sounded everywhere, and in the northwest part of the county there was hardly a cloud in the sky. Something that has needs to be fixed I believe.

Tornado sirens here tested every Wednesday at 3:30, weather permitting of course (they didn't sound today obviously).

AirmaN wrote:Ours are tested every saturday at 10 am...last saturday when they were tested, they went off about 4-5 times.... crack sirens or something.

Just to make a little modification to what my BROTHER said (yes, AirmaN is my younger brother):

The civil defense sirens are tested the FIRST Saturday of the month here in Douglas County (NE).

On the FIRST Saturday of April, both a monthly and annual test are conducted to make sure they are ready to go for the season. Last Saturday, yes, I do remember hearing them sound SEVERAL times between 10am and noon, and, yes, this is because some sirens were not working properly. Some were not working at all, while a few were not rotating.

A couple years ago the Douglas County Emergency Management Agency purchased a BRAND NEW siren system, replacing the older units that were used back in the mid 1900s for civil defense. The sirens, themeselves, are more "attractive" looking, and I guess a computer exists where a 911 dispatcher or the emergency manager can choose which area to sound the alarms.

jkt21787 wrote:Fortunately, there was only death, but it was someone who was outside and had no idea what was going on.

That's the intended purpose, for those who do not know, to warn the public OUTSIDE. Having a weather radio to alert you to threatening conditions when INSIDE is the best bet. In fact, sometimes I can only hear a very faint siren while inside a private residence. I have a good idea that if you were in an office building, espeically the interior sections of the building or in a noisy shopping mall or store, you would not hear a PEEP of the sirens.

No, I've never heard a tornado siren here, in central Florida or in southeastern Massachusetts.