(Updated) Iowa's Statewide Tornado Drill, and no more STH-10

[Justin]

Just out of curiosity, there's no chance of that STH-10 being rescued by yourself? That way, at least it won't be sent to the scrap heap and there's even the avenue of cleaning it up, if you are willing to do so.

I'd just start asking around and see if they're willing to let it go once that new siren goes up, you just might get lucky.

[bigloudnoise]

Unfortunately, as I said, I don't forsee this as being something the city would just give away to an individual for free, nor do I have enough money to actually buy it. Even if I were somehow able to take possession of it, I don't have any proper way to transport it (Let alone the physical strength to move over 350 pounds), no place to store it, nor do I have the knowledge and equipment to maintain it while in my possession.

I am going to write a letter to city hall though, suggesting that they at least consider donating the siren to another town that may need one (There's one town in Benton county that doesn't even have a siren) rather than just outright scrapping it. It appears to me to be in quite good physical condition, and although they don't test it regularly anymore, whenever they do use it for fire calls, it sounds in good condition as well. So, hopefully I can at least convince them to consider donating it to another town.

[ver tum]

You may actually be able to get that STH-10 for a much cheaper price than you'd think, or even for free if the city is planning on scrapping it. I've heard of some 2T22's going for about $300, but I'm not sure what an STH-10 is worth. You really need to talk to the guies at the fire department where it is located. You may just be fortunate enough to get it.

[Daniel]

You may actually be able to get that STH-10 for a much cheaper price than you'd think, or even for free if the city is planning on scrapping it. I've heard of some 2T22's going for about $300, but I'm not sure what an STH-10 is worth. You really need to talk to the guies at the fire department where it is located. You may just be fortunate enough to get it.

This is entirely possible. I was once offered a free Model 3, but I had no way to transport it except in the (leather) back seat of my old Audi 200T, so I declined the offer.

[bigloudnoise]

Yeah, that's another reason I'm not really the right person to take possession of the old siren. Even if I could buy it (Or have it just given to me for free), I have no good way to move it, and nowhere to store it.

I left a letter for the city administrator today, and he responded, in person, quite quickly. He liked my suggestion of donating the siren. One thing about my suggestion that piqued his interest is that I mentioned possibly donating it to a large nearby rural camping area, about six miles outside town. He thought that might be good. Of course though, we'll have to see if it comes to fruition. Everything is still in the planning stage right now, but they hope to do something with the old siren by July.

Oh, and I was right, the replacement is going to be a Whelen. They haven't picked out an exact model yet though. If I had to make a guess, I'd say it's probably going to be a 2900-series, since the newspaper article said they want voice capability, and the other sirens in town are WPS-2807s. A 2900 series would coordinate visually with the other sirens (For the most part, anyway).

[texaschad25]

Just haul it redneck style...

Lay a piece of plywood on top of the car (or on trunklid) , put the siren on top of the wood, tie it off with some baling wire (jump ropes work well if baling wire is not available) or have the spouse ride up there and hold it, run the rope or wire thru the cab,securing it to the roof, and that my friend , is the rednecks way of transporting a large item when a truck is not available.



please don't do this....lol

[JasonC]

Just haul it redneck style...

Lay a piece of plywood on top of the car (or on trunklid) , put the siren on top of the wood, tie it off with some baling wire (jump ropes work well if baling wire is not available) or have the spouse ride up there and hold it, run the rope or wire thru the cab,securing it to the roof, and that my friend , is the rednecks way of transporting a large item when a truck is not available.



please don't do this....lol

Hey...I've carried thunderbolt heads on the top of my Chevy S10 Blazer several times like that before....it works!

[LtKernelPanic]

Bummer on the siren. I didn't even know the statewide drill was going to be Wednesday. I was mildly confused to why they were blowing the sirens at 10:10 am on a Wednesday instead of the usual first Monday noon test. At least your town is going to replace the old siren.

An amusing story in honor of the drill:

The brilliant council here back in 1992ish decided to dismantle the old mechanical sirens but not replace them for 10 years. Talk about a WTF were they thinking moment! Well about five years later a line of severe weather with a history of dozens of tornadoes moved across Nebraska and South Dakota hitting here around 5 pm. No fewer then six tornadoes came within 20 miles of the city including two that were visible at the baseball stadium where city officials were gathered for the season opener. Needless to say they had the police and fire chief and the county director of disaster services in the council chambers the next day and gave them 90 days to have a system in place. Ironically three days after they installed the last one and did a city wide drill they had to use them for a warning for another twister that barely skirted around the city.

[Robert Gift]

...The brilliant council here back in 1992ish decided to dismantle the old mechanical sirens but not replace them for 10 years. ....

Wow.
What morons.
You get the new sirens up and operating BEFORE you decommission the old.
So easy.
Someone should have been fired.

[sirenman1bd]

The statewide tornado drill is done only once a year in Iowa.

Thanks, I just wanted to know because my mom was born in Washington, Iowa.