Posted on 09/12/2006 12:30:17 AM PDT by Eurotwit
Edited on 09/12/2006 12:46:33 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
You said -- "I thought the noon whistle was a fire department test, since it was used to call in our voluntary fire department whenever there was a fire in town. It was also used for tornado warnings."
Well, the noon siren was once a week, and I believe it was on Friday (if I remember correctly). And it was in downtown Houston, Texas. And everything stopped in downtown Houston -- traffic, people, etc. I can't remember how many years they continued the practice, but I do remember thinking about how all the traffic just stopped in Houston (at least for one minute).
And..., talking about using the sirens for tornado warnings, I've been in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the last few months (off and on) and I've heard those tornado sirens a number of times, over the Spring months. One time a tornado did come within a mile of where I was. They also test the sirens every Wednesday.
I know I've seen a lot of those community sirens in Oklahoma. I guess they get quite a few tornados. It seemed that during the Spring, every time I came up to Tulsa, there was always a tornado around, somewhere within 30 miles of where I was.
When I was down in Galveston, on August 29, 2005 (the day that Katrina hit New Orleans) a tornado went right over the top of a building I was in, at the end of a pier. Fortunately it was a weak one and only blew out windows and doors and sucked up carpet off the deck of an observation platform and threw furniture out into the ocean. But, it was the only tornado I've actually been in -- with a direct hit of the building I was in.
And you said -- "I remember the fallout shelter signs in the schools, but I don't remember doing any fallout drills."
Now, the school drills were in Dallas, Texas. It was an elementary school. I can't remember how often it was done. It might have been every month or so.
Back then, there were bomb shelters on display at the Texas State Fair in Dallas. I remember those. I remember an aunt and uncle installing one of those bomb shelters at their house in Tulsa. You climbed down a ladder to get into it, from one of the rooms in the house. It was lower down than a basement would have been.
It was definitely something that was on everyone's mind in Texas, that's for sure. I would also imagine that these things would vary from community to community and also in different states.
Regards,
Star Traveler
The noon whistle sounded on a daily basis in the town I grew up & I know that was at least into the mid-seventies. My ex was a city kid & he asked me about it, cuz the whistle wasn't tested like that in Milwaukee. I had to tell him to watch for private cars with flashing lights when the siren sounded in town, cuz the cars of volunteer firemen didn't have sirens, just the lights.
I lived through a tornado when I was four. We rode it out in a *tent*. My mom had gone out of the tent to rescue her new swimsuit from of the clothes line & then couldn't get the tent's zipper closed again. When the tent's heavy wooden center pole was snapped, the table with all of our food was knocked over. Water was rushing in & the food was floating around, while we were standing there holding up the heavy canvass. With all of the huge trees knocked down, I don't know if anyone was hurt. Out in the sticks there's no warning.
As I'm writing this, there's thunder rumbling & there's a flash flood warning. I live in an area without any warning sirens these days. I know conditions aren't right for twisters today, yet I have an ear to the radio. I'm glad my area is covered by doppler radar & while it sends me to the basement way too often, I don't care. The closest tornado to touch down in my area since I moved here about eighteen years ago was this year & it was about five miles away. There were also two other roof removing events that were closer during that time, plus a tiny twister formed over my next door neighbor's house.
FOX NEWS.com: Damascus, Syria - "SYRIAN SECURITY FOILS ATTACK ON U.S. EMBASSY; AL QAEDA GROUP EYED" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Three Islamic militants suspected to have Al Qaeda ties were killed Tuesday after a failed attempt to attack the U.S. Embassy with automatic rifles, hand grenades and a van rigged with explosives. A Syrian security officer was also killed, but no Americans were hurt.") (September 12, 2006)
FWIW, the Marines are not the security force at the embassy or consulate entrances and parameters. That security is contracted and usually local talent is screened and hired. The Marines usually get involved if they get past them.
I grew up in northern NJ. In second grade, when I was 7, 1963, we had drills where we had to kneel against the wall in the hallways, facing the wall and cover our heads. That was the only year we did it.
were you in NJ then also?
It's still Stewart Air Force Base!
"Stewart Air National Guard Base The 105th Airlift Wing of the New York Air National Guard is based at Stewart Air National Guard Base. The former Stewart Air Force Base is also known as Newburgh-Stewart IAP and Stewart International Airport. Stewart IAP (ANG) is located in Newburgh, New York."
We moved in '72, at that time the plan sounded like it was to become a civil airport to take commuter traffic off of NY & NJ international airports.
Looks like its both National Guard (not AF) and civilian.
Thanks and FReegards!
I thought it was Newburgh, I was going to look it up too!...I picked up my 3 nephews from Tennessee at Stewart back in '93 to avoid a trip to Newark! I've still never driven to Newark Airport myself, too much crazy traffic for me.
I see you're in Georgia, lucky! I hope to some day get out of NJ too, cost of living is insane here.
Looks like the Syrians "put out the fire" themselves!
They knew if NOT, the possibility of "Don't Mess With Texas" would come down on them!!
If anything would have happened to the US Embassy, it would NOT have been handled like pea-nut jimmuh carter's inability to act in Tehran in 1979!!!
Not after we destroy everything they have to shoot at em.
Fascinating--thanks for posting it.
ON THE NET...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=syria
http://www.memri.org/syria.html
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UPDATE...
Note: The following post is a quote:
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1700964/posts
Men involved in attack on US embassy Syrian nationals
BBC Monitoring ^ | September 13 2006 | SANA
Posted on 09/13/2006 3:00:22 PM PDT by knighthawk
Damascus, 13 September: The Syrian news agency, SANA, has learnt that the 4th terrorist who took part in the terrorist attack which targeted the US embassy in Damascus yesterday has died as a result of the serious injuries he sustained in the clash between the anti-terror squad and the armed terrorist group.
The serious health condition of the terrorist, who was being treated at hospital, did not allow the relevant authorities engaged in investigating this terrorist operation to interrogate him.
According to initial information, the four terrorists who carried out the terrorist attack on the US embassy were Syrian nationals.
Thanks for sharing, I found this very interesting...and thank your Dad for his service to our Country for me.
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