The sound of that siren will wreak fear in my heart forever. We heard those sirens a LOT when I was a small child, living in Kansas City KS. The 70's were very active weather years. Now, a weather entheusiest, the storms don't scare me because I understand them and have seen many tornadoes but that ominous sound of this particular siren will resonate fear within my soul, forever... Interesting what a sound or scent can do to your emotional state. Whooo... That sound....
The Thunderbolt is incredibly loud in person. It's the loudest siren still in use. I once heard one in downtown Ft Smith Arkansas when it was tested. It's on top of the tallest building in town. It was very impressive.
There a lot of amazing sounding thunderbolts in Ohio such as this one. My two favorites are Mt Airy Thunderbolt 1000-high pitched and the good old White Oaks Thunderbolt 1000T which I think a T-128 sits beside both of them. And don't forget the 5/6 Thunderbolt 1000T on Thompsons Rd.
I love torando sirens but another side of me finds them scary. the sound, the look of them..everything. and when you hear several tornado sirens mixing with eachother its even more creepy. and the sound of sirens starting up and stopping..its all scary to me. but i love them!
Oh man, I used to have one of these beasts a block from my house. First time I heard it, it practically blew me out of my bed in the middle of the night!
The Thunderbolt is the siren in this video. It was produced by Federal Signal from 1952 to around 1990. This is a dual tone version, and to many, it has a real bite to its tone. It is also my favorite siren of all time due to its tone.
While visiting my aunt last summer in Memphis, one of this went off, I was like... wtf is that!?!?!?!?! Then she told me it's a siren test, which ocurrs EVERY sunday. (I live in Puerto Rico and we don't have those, that's why) PS. I want that sound as my cellphone ringtone, lol.
In Jefferson County, CO., they removed all their tornado sirens due to budget cuts in 200. In 2007, an F-1 tornado struck the area, and there was no siren to warn people. 4 people killed.
All of these sirens were replaced with Federal Signal 2001-130 sirens in 2009 as part of the upgrade to battery-backed sirens that Washington Township did.
That is exactly like the ones we had on top of our schools before they replaced them in about 2000 or so. I only lived a block away from the school and you definatly knew when that thing went off. Too bad they replaced them with cheap sounding new ones and put them in different places.
when I visited NYC in 1996 someone told me that the sirens are no longer working & they don't get tested......well, what happened when they were needed for 9-1-1?
AZ has test sites and AF Bases, these are targets. I lived near a SAC base and a TFW base as a kid, every other Friday sirens were tested arougn lunch.
hey im from chicopee:) and yeah i only know of three sirens in springfield and there all allertors. theres one on top of a fire station along roosevelt ave, one on a building in downtown near the rmv, and one off of page blvd near the k of c. What schools are these thunderbolts located on and are they still there?
there is still one thunderbolt left in houston but its in very poor condition on the inside ,but it still looks fair on the outside. they don't test or use it anymore ,and are thinking about taking it down
I am putting 3 of those on top of my truck, next time i am in a traffic jam i will let em rip!!! or better yet, cruise on over to the golf course and wait for someone to start their swing and set all 3 off at once!!
@coronamuthafucka123 i agree. to many ppl complain because they cant wait. We waited untill it would sound to film and missed the wind up and got it about 5-7 seconds into the 30 second one turn test.
they warn you of the two worst things tornados and nukes, but i like tornados, but only when they dont destroy lives and property, they are beatiful creatures in the middle of nowhere
Arvada, CO. USED to have these tornado sirens. but they took them down in 2001 and no longer have ANY way of warning the public of impending tornado's or emergency. Why did they get rid of the sirens you ask? Because they thought these sirens and their maintance & upkeep was a waste of tax dollars. Last year, a fluke storm caused a tornado in the Arvada/ Wheat Ridge area. Considerable damage and 2 lives lost! They might still be alive today if it weren't for cheap-skate Arvada!!
