Omaha Metro Sirens

[coyoteunknown]

One of those guies in the video said something about a base, so that could be in Fort Calhoun. If that's the case, the 9/12 port siren is likely a P-10.

The base he's referring to is the "Offutt Air Force Base" that's south of Bellevue, Nebraska, which is about 10 miles south of Omaha, Nebraska.

If he can give a slightly more detailed location, we may be able to get a picture of the siren through Google Earth's 360 view service, as some of the roads in that area do have pictures we can look at.

[bigloudnoise]

A stroke of random luck (Or perhaps misfortune depending on who you ask) has given me an opportunity to hear Omaha's sirens this afternoon.

I was at a gas station on the north side of Omaha getting ready to head home, when I suddenly heard the sirens wind up. I knew there were some storms coming in, and I had planned to leave and drive ahead of the storms because they were not tornadic at the time. But as soon as I heard the sirens, I decided against that and headed back to my friend's house to ride out the storm. A couple hours later I was able to head home.

There wasn't a tornado warning, nor was there a tornado. HOWEVER...several spotters consistently reported 90MPH winds with very large hail, so they decided to blow the sirens anyway. Supposedly it is almost unheard of for Omaha to sound their sirens for non-tornadic storms. It was for a good reason though, because downtown got hit hard. The Qwest Center has roof and window damage, and an art festival that was taking place downtown was totally wrecked, tents and stands destroyed everywhere. There are also reports of houses on the west side of Omaha that had their roofs torn off. Even though there officially wasn't a tornado (Although the amount of damage makes me wonder otherwise), it's still a good thing they sounded the sirens.

I do not know if this is the normal procedure for Omaha or not, but they sounded the sirens three separate times; 3-minute alert, 3-minute pause, 3-minute alert, etc. They sounded the first time while I was at the gas station, the second time while I was driving back to my friend's house, and a third time while at his house. At one point while driving I must have been very close to a siren, because I passed through the "sound beam" and it was very loud and sharp, even with the windows closed in my van. I couldn't see where it was though.

From my friend's house, I could hear at least one T-128, and I could also hear a Federal 2001. I recorded a brief siren ambience video, but it's not very good because it's spur-of-the-moment, very short and there's people talking in it (myself included). If I do post it, I'll probably trim out the parts that include the talking, which'll result in a video only about ten seconds long.

[ver tum]

I'd like to see the whole video, despite the talking. I may be able to hear other sirens, like that possible SD-10.

[kx250rider]

That's an American Signal Corporation Tempest T-128.

Oops

Now I have no excuse in the future. I stand corrected...

Charles

[bigloudnoise]

I'd like to see the whole video, despite the talking. I may be able to hear other sirens, like that possible SD-10.

I'll likely be uploading a trimmed version to YouTube that eliminates most of the talking, but I did upload the unedited original to Photobucket. It's at http://s287.photobucket.com/albums/ll13 ... CF2768.flv

This was recorded from the porch of my friend's house near the intersection of N 30th Street and Sorensen Parkway. You can hear at least one T-128, along with a sick 2001 that keeps randomly slowing down.

[ver tum]

Yeah, that 2001 does sound strange. It sounds like it's being effected by power surges and dips. It sounds like one of the later 2001's though, so it may have dead batteries, or a loose connection somewhere.

[Daniel]

Here's a photo I took when I was in Omaha last year... My Omaha geography is poor, but I think this was on a side road of Dodge Road, near a place where there's a long S-curve and a slight hill. I took the photo from my friend's front yard. He hates sirens, ironically! I can go look up his street address if needed.

I feel ashamed not to remember what model this siren is. A 2001? It had a Federal logo on the front of the projector. I haven't memorized the later type siren models & versions, as my main interest is in Cold War era sirens.

Charles

That is the siren on Dodge that I was talking about. There had been a Thunderbolt on a wooden stand about a block up from it but all has been removed.

[EOWS 612]

Tomorrow morning is my last trip through Fort Calhoun before heading back home. I'll have to actually stop and see if I can find that third siren. Oh, and Fort Calhoun's "mint green" P-10 is actually light blue. The first few times I saw it was in the evening near sunset, when the sunlight was more yellow. That made it look mint green. Still a neat effect.

Anyway, back on topic. I finally spotted one siren, maybe two, right in Omaha. The first was a T-128 along Center Street, about a mile or so east of the Oak View mall, next to a BP gas station (I don't recall the cross street at that location). Also, I was riding with a friend down 132nd a little ways south of Dodge, and I was looking out the window to the west when off in the distance I spotted what looked like an XT22.

As much as I'd like to see the black T-128, I don't anticipate being anywhere near downtown tomorrow. Since I have a five-hour drive tomorrow afternoon to get home, it's gonna be a short day, so anything my friend and I do will be close his house, which is quite a distance from downtown.

The XT22 is one of Boy's Town's 3T22s. Did you find the 15V2T? It's was beat to heck, so it might not be there any more.

[bigloudnoise]

...Did you find the 15V2T? It's was beat to heck, so it might not be there any more.

I did find a third siren in Fort Calhoun, but I must confess I have yet to learn how to identify the various models of Sentry, so I don't know if it's the 15V2T you were talking about or not





It was behind a building across the street from the P-10. It has trees on almost every side, which makes it difficult to spot if you don't know where to look. It wasn't until I was almost a block away to the east that an opening in the trees revealed it. Physically the largest siren I personally have seen, and I can't believe I missed it so many times!

[holler]

It has the horns of 10v2t but is much taller. Is this how they made the early 15v2t's?