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No sirens warned downtown of tornado (excerpt)

By HEATHER VOGELL , MEGAN CLARKE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/20/08

Minutes before a deluge of rain and hail hit the south Decatur neighborhood of Oakhurst on Saturday, a siren sounded a steady wail.

A man's voice boomed: "Attention. A tornado warning is in effect for Agnes Scott College. Seek shelter now. I repeat: A tornado warning is in effect."

Perched atop a college library, the siren didn't reach only students. It also delivered the primary warning for residents nearby who were not tuned in to a television, radio or the Internet.

Agnes Scott's siren is a rare piece of equipment in DeKalb County, which dismantled its outdoor siren system years ago. Fulton County did the same, citing upkeep costs.

As a result, no such alert sounded in Atlanta or unincorporated Fulton before the tornado struck downtown Friday night. Only residents within earshot of a city or school that had bought its own sirens heard them.

Outdoor sirens can now broadcast detailed voice messages over expansive areas, but their use remains scattershot across the metro area, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found.

Northwestern University Selects Whelen

March 12 | Campus
MEDIA CONTACT: Alan Cubbage at 847-491-4886 or a-cubbage@northwestern.edu Outdoor Alert System to be Installed, Tested A new outdoor alert system for Northwestern University's Evanston campus will be installed and tested during the week of March 24, University officials said.

If installation of the system proceeds as planned, regular monthly tests of the system will occur the first Tuesday of every month at 10 a.m., starting Tuesday, April 1. Municipal outdoor warning systems in Illinois are tested at that same time. Northwestern will coordinate the tests of its system with the municipal tests.

Installation of the loudspeakers is slated for March 26 or 27, depending on timing of the construction work and weather conditions. Testing will occur once the loudspeakers are installed and the system is activated.

The new outdoor alert system will consist of roof-mounted speaker arrays at several locations on the Evanston campus on the main campus and at the athletic complex. The system will be able to broadcast brief spoken messages, both pre-recorded and live. The system can make the traditional siren sound used by municipalities to warn of severe weather and also make other emergency tones.

The outdoor system is designed to enable the University to communicate with those people who may be outside on campus. It is not expected that messages broadcast via this method will be audible inside buildings on campus.

On the Chicago campus, an outdoor alert system does not appear to be feasible at this time, so the University is considering public address systems for inside buildings.

The new alert systems are part of Northwestern's efforts to improve emergency communications. Earlier this year, the University contracted with an outside vendor to provide an emergency notification system that allows the University to quickly call, e-mail and send a text message to students, faculty and staff. That system was tested successfully in January and used to send a notice of a weather-related class cancellation in February.

Another Nuclear Plant Selects Whelen

Article posted by Liz Kravitz, NBC17 Raleigh, NC

NEW HILL, N.C. - New sirens will be used at the Harris Plant after a successful test on Wednesday. Progress Energy tested the siren system within a 10-mile radius of the nuclear power plant.

Company officials said they only had to run the test once and the siren and system operated as expected.

The new sirens, which have back up battery capabilities, will go into effect on April 1, according to company officials.
The sirens do not rotate, but will emit a loud steady-tone sound that is very similar to the existing siren sound. During emergencies, the sirens will be activated four times for three minutes each time.

Johns Hopkins Selects Whelen Engineering as it's Mass Notification Warning Vendor

Chester, CT March 18, 2008 Whelen Engineering, Inc, manufacturer of high-powered outdoor mass notification products, along with Magnum Electronics recently announced Johns Hopkins University has selected them as their mass notification vendor.

Whelen designs and manufactures electronic Mass Notification Voice and Tone Products, from 107dBC to 130dBC, for University Campus warning applications. Whelen is the industry leader, providing innovative products for ALERTING and INFORMING University students, faculty, employees and visitors, BEFORE and AFTER an emergency situation occurs.

Whelen's Mass Notification product is the only mass notification product that works without a cell phone, computer or any other external device. Whelen's product provides instantaneous warning throughout the campus when an emergency condition presents itself, while email, text and telephone alerts can take hours to complete their task.

University of New Hampshire

In response to the Virginia Tech incident, an anonymous donation has allowed the University of New Hampshire to be able to install four WPS2907 mass notification voice products onto its Durham , New Hampshire campus.

Since Virginia Tech, the need for instantaneous voice capability, whether through pre-recorded messages or live public address has been heightened, and more awareness of what mass notification is and how to accomplish it is now a widely discussed topic at secondary and post-secondary educational institutions across this country.

Whelen Engineering, a local New Hampshire two-way radio dealer, I.C. Reed & Sons, Inc. as well as University personnel worked together to complete the installation of the equipment.

Amory Noted for Danger-Warning

By David Breland
dbreland@cdispatch.com

Amory may be small, but the town is big when it comes to its ability to offer mass warnings during times of danger.

Recently, the city of Amory was recognized by the Mississippi Municipal League for excellence in public safety for a city with a population under 10,000.

Amory was given the award for its state-of-the-art outdoor public emergency all-hazard warning system. The system, known as the Mass Outdoor Notification System, is remarkable because the warning system is audible over the entire geographical area of the city of Amory , which is 13 square miles.

The system became operational in November of 2006; Amory is the only city in Mississippi with a warning system of this type of capability.

The system consists of six sirens with ranges that overlap each other and can be controlled from two different locations, both storm-proof. The system can either play pre-recorded messages or a live message can be broadcast.

“The system is primarily for weather-related hazards, but we have a lot of rail traffic near Amory that carries a lot of hazardous waste. We could use the system in the event a rail car derailed and spilled hazardous chemicals, requiring evacuation,” said Amory Mayor Howard Boozer. “In this day with so many school shootings and the possibility of terrorist attacks, it's beneficial to have such a versatile system.

“I believe it is one of the best public safety projects in Mississippi .”

The system was funded from profits of the sale of the local hospital. The profits went into a fund for the city, and the decision was made to purchase the system. The city utility department then installed it.

Total cost for the system was $140,000.

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