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All is ok in north Church Hill but the sirens are starting up again. Do you all hear the sirens?!
Tree down across 26th Street…but we’re good!
Just got home. Tree limbs flying all over. Lots of water on roads. Scariest drive of my life.
The sirens are at MCV and can be heard here. I am not sure if there is one on the fire station or not? The All Clear was given a few minutes ago with the long solid tone. Any local damage other than the tree?
Heard the siren over here on 900 N. 37th street
@10 Meg… The double is a bit odd and it added to the tension. I was seeing people speeding up Marshall while the winds were blowing rain almost horizontal down the corridor. Had some hail hitting our windows.
The sirens I believe are on top of the MCV West Hospital building that is on Broad (the brick art deco building) and installed during WWII to be used for Air Raids and later Cold War attacks. They are also started up for other emergencies like this evening and can be heard quite a ways, which is our only warning for our neighborhood outside of broadcasts or Apps.
Is everyone OK? I am CERT Certified.
@16 Alicia… I could not hear them either at first then when the lightening started heard the wail in the distance. They are not as loud as ones in Tornado Alley. It did get louder later and the All Clear was the loudest but sounded like two sirens going at once. Maybe the sirens needed to warm up or clean themselves out not being tested or used in a long time? All noise in the house had to be silenced to hear them. I am only about 4 blocks away from you but my house has a clear shot between houses to see MCV so may have been able to hear them better?
I am hoping that everyone is well and so is their pets and property. Pray in your own way for those families who lost loved ones this evening in Waverly which is still not out of the woods with storms and just heard that there was damage in Tappahannock with possible trapped in a collapsed building..
Not all areas of Richmond has sirens. Just be glad we do but would try to get ahold of those in charge of them to make sure they are tested and kept up.
The sirens at VCU Medical Center are tested every Wednesday at noon.
Correction #30…the sirens are tested every first Wednesday of the month at noon(I’ve heard them from working there the past six years) North Korea is coming! I always joke! Lol
@30 Liz… I have lived here 16 years and have only heard the sirens at MCV (12th and Broad) one other time and that were the ones for lockdown – not disaster or attack emergency. This was the first time I have heard them that loud and long. I have been home nearly 2 months every day and never hear them on Wednesday nor my partner who has also been home nearly 3 years. I am not sure why you hear them and we don’t? I believe elsewhere you mentioned Monroe Campus, which would explain why we in Church Hill would not hear them. I am talking about the air raid/ emergency sirens at the hospital.
This has been a WEIRD winter.
I’m with you Eric. I’m on 21st and work from home. I know duck and cover the-enemy-is-coming sirens and I have never heard *those* here until last night. CSX, Engine 1, and cops, yes. But like Pavlov, I knew what do to do… head for my bathroom fallout shelter!
I’m on 23rd and I hear the sirens every Wednesday at noon.
Are you hearing the sirens for shooters and abductions rather than the nuclear attack ones? I think I would hear the nuclear attack ones that went off last night as it would be heard all over the city rather than the campus ones.
I am a VCU student – here is the verbiage from the last email regarding the monthly siren test.
“Outdoor sirens: In a real emergency, the 10 sirens on the Monroe Park and MCV campuses will sound for four minutes to signal that an immediate, life-threatening emergency has occurred or may be imminent. The purpose of the siren is to alert people outside of campus buildings to immediately seek secure shelter and to receive additional information. No all clear siren is utilized…. monthly checks of the siren system are conducted at noon on the first Wednesday of each month consisting of a one-minute steady wail that also recharges the siren batteries. If you have any comments, questions or concerns about the VCU alerting technologies please email VCUAlert@vcu.edu.”
Amie, I am still saying what you are describing is the “lock down” sirens as opposed to disaster / attack sirens we heard for the first time. Two completely different set of sirens and loudness. Here on N 27th they were as loud as a fire truck siren that was stuck while sitting a block or two away.
Eric you are both correct. I lived in Oregon Hill before moving to Church Hill and what Amie is describing is the Monroe park sirens which are tested the firs Wednesday or every month (I would always forget and freak out) but they sound completely different than the ones we heard Wednesday during the storm so definitely 2 different set of sirens.
The ones at Monroe Park we would not hear in Church Hill (too far away) but there are the same set of sirens at MCV/VCU downtown as well we heard a few years back during an attempted attack so a lockdown. The ones we heard during the storm here in Church Hill were what were called back in WWII and the Cold War era as Air Raid sirens and used in Tornado Alley for them as well. I believe ours are on top of the West hospital so project over the city and were very loud here. They are not tested weekly, monthly, or even yearly – unlike drills back in the 1950s-1960s, which they should to make sure they work properly when needed. I noted they sounded fairly weak at first and then got louder the longer they ran so suspect they need to be tested occasionally to keep them up to speed? But rather than go in circles here, I’ll do a little more investigating. I know they are a bit secretive about physical siren locations for obvious reasons.
OK, apparently there are 10 total federal sirens between campuses… 6 at Monroe and 4 at MCV. They are: 8 Eclipse 8 and 2 2001-130 models. At least one of the Eclipse 8s is on top of the Jefferson Street parking Deck and a 2001 on top of the Wood Memorial building on N 11th. Now, are all sounded off at once each month? I doubt it since we have never heard the ones at MCV except in 2013, probably since it is in a hospital zone. Apparently the sirens have only been used 3 time previously since they have been installed in 2007 (replacing the old WWII era one)…in 2011 for a fire at the hospital (don’t recall that one), 2012 tornado warning (did not hear in Church Hill), and 2013 when armed robbers were thought to be heading towards MCV campus (the one we heard at night). Now the tornado warning the other evening…which they must have sounded off all of them which could account for it sounding like more than one wailing off synch. This may help some?