Two Alabama Counties Silence Siren Systems

[siren fan]

Yep. Perfect example is Garland, TX. They were about to use reverse 911 and then tornadoes hit DFW in April of 2011. That changed everything.

[Stag]

Disappointing. Not to get political, but I think the issue of attempting to phase out siren systems is a classist one. Not everyone can afford cell phones or access to a radio 24/7. Just really not a good idea at all, whether it is to save the county budget or not, to eliminate a mass notification system as universal as warning sirens.

[DJ2226]

I want to add some information about these systems.

Tallapoosa County's system consists of 25 sirens. As mentioned in the OP all of them are Whelen sirens composed of WPS-2800s and various Vortexes. In the map I created I was only able to find WPS-2809's, so that's what I'm assuming is their voice capable model throughout the system. The system originally was installed around the late 1990's or very early 2000's consisting of at least 3 finned Vortexes and the 2809's. The sirens went to the most populated areas of the county with the omnidirectional sirens going to the cities of Alexander City and Dadeville and Vortexes to Jacksons' Gap, East Tallessee, and Waverly. At some point in the mid-2000's they added a number of Vortexes to other rural areas, mostly at fire stations, and some of the surrounding areas of Alexander City. There's also a 2001-130 in East Tallessee, however it was installed by Elmore County.

Map: https://www.google.com/maps/@32.843349, ... authuser=0

Cherokee County's system consists of 16 sirens, Vortexes from all 4 "generations." Many of the Vortexes are belt driven with a good number of very early units with the rectangular rotator box. A smaller chunk of them have the slightly newer caste aluminum rotator box with the belt drive assembly, and a few have newer direct driver rotators. At least one is a 404R. This siren is the predecessor to the Vortex lineup; it used a 4004 head, typically the older style, on a Type I cabinet with an early tone only panel, WPS amps, and apparently had voice capabilities as an option. The one I found in this system happens to have a newer head and might possibly be one of the last ones produced. The 404R and earlier Vortexes were more than likely installed in early 1995, with the slightly later models installed shortly afterwards. One of the earlier units had a complete controller replacement at one point and now sports a shiny panel. The ones with direct drive rotators were installed in the early 2000's, if I had to guess around 2003-ish.

Map: https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1773063 ... authuser=0

So this system is a bit of an oddball. The older belt driven sirens, besides at least one second generation unit, have had their fins removed. That in itself is actually a pretty normal practice. After the belt snaps or slips enough times and/or the array manages to spin around and rip the wires right out of the head many towns eventually get tired of working on them and retrofit the rotators with direct drive ones. The kit includes a new motor and is mounted to the side of the rotator and sticks out like any newer unit. Afterwards some places will do a driver replacement on them eventually and drop the fin from the installation since it wouldn't be needed. (While I'm on the topic has anyone ever found out what exactly the fin does? I've heard that it stabilizes the array to ease the stress on the belt, but I've also heard they are meant to point the siren in the direction of the wind it the belt lets go.) Cherokee County is a special case. Thing is, they never installed a retrofit kit to the sirens. The idea that they had bad drivers in pretty much every belt driven siren, replaced the drivers, and deleted the fin in the process doesn't pass the sniff test for me. If I had to guess they probably had a case where one unit had it's belt let go and the siren had "wind-vaned" around and ripped the wires clean out of the head. I could see a situation where their EMA could have overreacted and remove the fins on most of them thinking that would solve the problem. Obviously that's not the solution to that problem.

Both systems have a few sirens that have kicked the bucket, and I'm assuming after looking at the cost of repair they decided it wasn't worth the money and time to fix them. The low cost of the telephonic systems and weather radios look very appealing as replacements for the sirens and plays a part in fueling many areas' abandonment of their systems. It really is a shame considering both are Whelen systems and still have life in them. You could probably combine the systems and get maybe 30 working units that could provide another county with a system. Unfortunately it's become a little bit of a theme. Pelham decommissioned their system a while back after dropping a lot of money on new 2001's. Of the 16 2001's 15 were 130's, some solar enabled, installed in around 2008 that were like 5 years old when the city stopped testing them. One is an SRNB, but it's still well within its lifespan. Columbiana discontinued the use of their system consisting of T-128's, one of the very few ASC systems in the deep south. They also installed a T-128 around 2008 only to have it shut off 9 years later. Honestly I'm half tempted to call up the city and county officials of some of these places and see if they would be willing to take their system down and sent them off to another county. A few counties around my neck of the woods could use a system right about now with these threats of sever weather looming. Costs are what hold back the counties from establishing systems. They have the money to install a few, but they would only cover something along the magnitude of 10% of the population. Something like this could allow them to have a functional system that doesn't break the bank and coverage quite a bit more people, since it's cheaper to get them used, so long as they are still functional, and be able to install more throughout the areas.

[siren fan]

What were the purposes for the Vortex fin? Seems like extra weight to strain the motor?

[nvanw27]

What were the purposes for the Vortex fin? Seems like extra weight to strain the motor?

Main reason for the fin was to help aid the rotator if it were to fail, using the wind power to let the siren rotate. However, it did put some strain onto the system, and was eventually discontinued.