Portable Sirens

[rdale]

...if you thought putting a lightbar on your car just wasn't cool enough...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMqHe9UVKP4&list=UUjOKBmeEeIQpQuRGLyULtpg&index=1

At least he got busted and ticketed for disturbing the peace...

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Why am I not surprised people are doing this :-\

 

[Matt Tottle]

Umm how do you know he 'at least got busted and ticketed for disturbing the peace'? And it's not like they were driving through town with the thing blaring, they're out in the middle of nowhere. He probably bought it trashed and restored it, and wants to play with it a few times before he sells it.

 

[rdale]

Because I found the video in the link where he said he got ticketed and fined. Then he posted a picture of the ticket

 

[David Drummond]

I actually ran into a guy in KS that runs a company that rents out the trailer mounted sirens to communities to use whenever they have one out of service for some reason. So, at least in the right hands, they serve a legitimate purpose.

 

[STexan]

I'm not up to speed on the tornado warning [siren] protocol and system. I'm guessing they must somehow be tied in with some "official" NWS or NOAA network? But I would assume a small-town city manager or local police chief or sheriff would have the power and ability to manually engage the siren if he/she actually SEE's a tornado near the town? And can they do this remotely in the event the sirens don't want to activate for whatever reason? But, I can certainly see the need to have this ability carefully controlled.

 

[rdale]

I'm guessing they must somehow be tied in with some "official" NWS or NOAA network?

Absolutely not... NWS doesn't control any siren activation. It's all done locally.

But I would assume a small-town city manager or local police chief or sheriff would have the power and ability to manually engage the siren if he/she actually SEE's a tornado near the town?

They can do it for any reason they want... Plus remember these are outdoor warning sirens - so they can be used for flooding, hazmat leaks, and lunch hour.

And can they do this remotely in the event the sirens don't want to activate for whatever reason?

It depends on what you mean by "remotely." Most can be controlled from locations away from the siren.

Here is the suggest protocol for siren activation - http://skywatch.org/ows.pdf

 

[STexan]

I assumed that the community sirens were somehow automatically triggered (networked) if it fell inside of a tornado warning cone. But it makes sense they are all manually operated so long as they are all properly manned during severe weather events. I seem to recall a recent Woodward event where there may have been a power outage or phone outage or something and the siren was inoperable when it was really needed?

 

[David Drummond]

Many of the smaller towns on the plains also use them for alerting the volunteer fire department. Often, they use a steady tone for tornadoes and an up/down tone fire.

 

[Matt Tottle]

I assumed that the community sirens were somehow automatically triggered (networked) if it fell inside of a tornado warning cone. But it makes sense they are all manually operated so long as they are all properly manned during severe weather events. I seem to recall a recent Woodward event where there may have been a power outage or phone outage or something and the siren was inoperable when it was really needed?

It's not done 'automatically', the OEM triggers them when the threat is imminent. However, they are tied together through a radio/telephone/cell network - in my town they use phone with a radio backup. All the OEM does is push a button and they go off. The problem is with the current system they go off county-wide, and complacency is becoming an issue. Over the past couple years they have started upgrading them to be "addressable", so they can trigger them by area using software very similar to what NWS uses to post the warnings.

And it's funny you mention the sirens being inoperable when they were needed, because we had an extraordinary display of fail here last year.. There was a round of TOR warned storms that were marching straight toward Russell - as it was getting dark no less.. The cells were approximately 20-30 miles apart, moving about 30mph.. The sirens went off for the first one, but then the power went out, it stayed out for the better part of 3 hours (side note: we get our power from Hays, and those lines were knocked out - but we also have a local power plant that is supposed to go online in that situation, and it failed). Several other TORs were issued while the power was out, and once cell did produce an EF-1 that hit the south end of town and put two people in the hospital. There was one Sentry siren in town (happens to be right behind my house) which has a battery backup - and it failed to activate. So basically if you didn't have a weather radio with batteries or a way to watch TV, you were totally oblivious to the continuing threat.

Needless to say, the next city council meeting was quite interesting and colorful. There are now three new Sentry sirens in town.. But to beat the dead horse, one should not be relying on sirens. Sirens are outdoor warning devices, not designed to alert you indoors or wake you up. You need a weather radio for that.

 

[ELY M.]

My friend is siren freak and he love to sound his sirens. He even owned some sirens in my town.
that is why we have weekly siren tests and it annoys some people in town.
three years ago (June 17th 2010), NWS never issued warning for the tornado that hit my town.
and I happened to drive south of it.

I wonder what was the original link that show his ticket. I guess I will try google it.

 

[rdale]

Weekly siren tests are ridiculous. Every study ever performed shows that frequent of a test numbs people to the siren.