Small-Town USA

I've been meaning to do this for a while but have been rather lazy about it... so finally I got off my couch and made you a video of what it means, exactly, to live in Small Town, USA.

It's a rather long, loud video but I've made comments in the middle that you won't ever get to hear unless you listen to it. If you live in my small little town I'll save you some time by saying that this video takes place on a Monday at noon.

Otherwise enjoy.



So if you were in a non video mood I'll tell you... these are the tornado sirens that are tested every week. The first time I heard them was about a week (well less than a week) after we moved here and I knew exactly one thing about tornadoes--they are funnel shaped. Well, okay, two things--they aren't hurricanes. You can imagine the predicament I was placed in when on a bright sunny day in mid August these blaring sounds began emitting in the air around me. Was there a tornado? Did tornadoes come out of the clear blue sky? What was I supposed to do if a tornado hit?

Although I have yet to be in a tornado I have found that the sever storms that cause the warnings and alerts are not unlike the weather one experiences during monsoon season in Arizona, so I'm not so worried anymore.

However I do find these Monday rituals to be rather amusing and love to be reminded that I live in such a small town.

These are also the sirens that call in the volunteer fire department--which is the only fire department we have.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Wow!!! That's really loud and irritating. I guess it's good that they are prepared but why is necessary to test them so often?
Cannwin said…
Good question... I'm going to surmise that it's because they use the sirens to call in the fire fighters. Or maybe it's like the noon bell and people just rely on it?

Elise says that they do the same thing in Dillon, MT. Not that they have any reason to worry about Tornadoes all snug up in the mountains over there, but they test their sirens.

I think it's a bit much because after a while you just don't hear them anymore. I was at the library recently and the sirens went off. It was a bright sunny Tuesday around 10AM and I thought "what the heck?" but no one else in the library so much as batted an eye. I think that totally defeats the purpose of having sirens if no one reacts to them. But that is my opinion.

I also know that when the weather gets bad enough you start listening FOR them, just in case. So maybe it's just me cause I'm new to Tornado Alley.
Claire said…
I tell ya, when there is a bad storm and that thing goes off, you pay attention real quick! It was only used once last year for tornado purposes, right at the 8pm bedtime of course! I was super-pregnant and home alone with Rejeanne and no packed bag. After that, I started keeping the diaper bag ready to go at all times.

Fun sidenote: I still call it a "bell" instead of a siren. This is because when I lived in Eureka, CA about 10 years ago, every Monday at noon, the tsunami bell went off. The need for a tsunami bell is not something I had known about before moving there. Since the tornado siren and the tsunami bell sound the same, it will probably always pop out of my mouth as "that infurnal bell".
Jennifer said…
So very, very loud! I had my earphones on and had to jerk them out of my ears. :D
Cannwin said…
hahaha, I thought I warned you that it would be loud.... or did I take that part out so as not to deter people from watching. LOL

Claire, wow I've never lived anywhere with such things as sirens that went off at noon. There were some things about living here that I could really call culture shock for me... this is at the top of my list.

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