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Some Residents say Unable to Hear Warning Sirens

Some residents say Dearborn's new swivel sirens aren't loud enough.

Dearborn’s early warning sirens were activated last night to warn residents of the violent storms and tornadoes in the area but it appears some homes still had trouble hearing the sirens.

We wrote about Dearborn’s new siren system in March 2009 and how extra swivel sirens were being installed to fill in the “sound” gaps in the city. Based on some of the comments sent here to Deepsaidwhat.com, it appears the sirens still may not be loud enough. 

” . . . does anybody know the story on the tornado sirens?,” asked one reader. “I was up last night and the only way I knew about the Tornado Warning was because it ran across the tv because the rain was so loud and my a/c was on. Methinks the siren should be loud enough to be heard over rain and air conditioning considering when we have bad storms resulting in tornados, people usually have on their a/c due to the humidity and heat and there is generally hard rain. How do we go about getting that fixed??”

Another reader wrote this:

” . . . i know what you mean, I opened the door last night to listen, and the new siren system sounded like it was coming from 40 miles away! I liked the old ones better, they went WOWOWOWOOOOOOWOWOWOOOOOOOOO very loud, why on earth did the city have to go and replace them? this is so stupid!”

You can read our earlier story on this subject and why some might still be having difficulty hearing the warning sirens by clicking HERE.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 6th, 2010 at 8:59 pm and is filed under Around Town. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • packards1

    I live near Military and Michigan Ave. and the siren noise would wake the dead.

  • LifelongDbnRes

    I could tell when they installed the extras because I went from being able to hear sirens just fine (the old ones) to barely even hearing them (the new ones) to finally being able to hear them on a clear, calm day or during a snowstorm (the additional ones being added I’m assuming, that or settings on the new ones being changed). Apparently last night proves they still aren’t loud enough. I live just a few houses from Schemansky/Elmhurst Park off of Outer Drive near Pelham.

  • 48124

    huh???…what????

  • Al

    The old sirens were much more audible than the new ones. I had an argument with a friend whether or not they went off the other night because I couldn’t hear them. I live near Outer Drive and Cherry Hill.

  • candymanpat

    I was just bitching to the wife the other night as I had the windows open and my head was right next to the windows and I could barely hear them also. I live on Cherry Hill between Outer Drive and Telegraph. They better fix it or I can only imagine the Law Suits.

  • Michael D. Albano

    The 1st time I heard those sirens when I moved back home, I had to ask my family what they were. I always heard those old sirens. To this day near Summer and Oxford, I haven’t not heard the newer sirens once from in the house, despite them trying to tweak them.

  • Happy Here

    In the previous article, it is noted that since the new siren system has some gaps and flaws that residents should be glad that the City of Dearborn has a back-up system that calls households in an emergency. I was out of town, but there was nothing on my caller i.d. … did anyone get a call?

  • cloe

    I spoke with about 5 families near Warren an Schaefer who said that they did not hear the sirens.

    Why did the City waste money trying to fix something that wasn’t broken? I didn’t know that they had changed them. Obviously, it wasn’t a change for the better. No one ever had any trouble hearing the old ones.

  • Kev

    We can barely here them at Madison & Monroe. The old ones were much better.

  • specialk

    I no longer live in the area & where I live I cannot hear any sort of siren of any kind even when I’m outside, when they run the test siren it sounds like a bird really far off in the distance but I often stay in Dearborn with my old roommate (in the house I used to live in) & I did last weekend & he heard the sirens but I didn’t…then again the air was on as was the TV so aside from the obnoxious TV siren I didn’t hear anything.

    I know nothing of calling people though, then again I don’t know anyone who has a home phone but my friend did have his home number transferred to his cell & he didn’t get a call Saturday night.

  • mary petlichkoff

    Just FYI- the City did not replace the old sirens- Wayne County did. The County received money to replace the area warning systems and moved forward on this without communicating all the details with the City. After the fact, it was discovered the issues of coverage and the City attempted to get the old system back ( they never asked for the replacements in the first place)- it was a no go with the County by that time and the City is working at covering the gaps left by the County system.

  • Bill

    The siren at Summer-Stephens Park did not go off. I thought I heard a siren off in the distance and wondered if it was from Dearborn. I also did not receive a call from the Dearborn emergency system. I hope this is a one time fluke as listening to the weather on Saturday night, a storm was headed right for us as reported by WDIV Channel 4. In typical Dearborn fashion, the siren would have gone off after my home was flattened.

  • http://www.networkdearborn.com Dave Bowman

    They were pretty faint in my neighborhood, between Cherry Hill and Ford east of Telegraph. Of course, that rain was unusually loud.

  • sm1968

    dearborn hills- could hardly hear it

  • Air Raids?

    When was the last time in the history of Dearborn that someone was hurt or killed because they didn’t get sufficient warning of the impending approach of German bombers, tornadoes, tsunamis, hurricanes or a large-scale prison break?

    I guess we’re just one surprise tornado away from Armageddon, so that early warning system is clearly a necessity.

    To read some of these threads, you’d think the city was on the brink of anarchy and then we get people complaining that the city-wide public address system that was never needed in the first place, and is now not only unnecessary but more than quadruple redundant in the age of cell phones, cable TV, satellite TV, the internet and Nixle, is both too LOUD and too QUIET.

    The petty things people complain about around here never cease to remind me how good things actually ARE. Yeah, I know, “Complaints about ineffective civil defense sirens are only petty until there’s an earthquake we need to know about.”

  • Ken

    I could barely hear them at Oxford and Pardee.

  • James

    Heard them west of Telegraph, North of Cherry Hill. I think it was the one in Levagood Park?

  • kay

    Air Raids: I love your post. Common sense has left the buildingis nowhere to be found and forgot to turn off the lights! Honestly! However, that said, I heard them loud and clear but I do live down the street from the Mayor. There are advantages I guess! But I have ears and could hear the rain and the wind so I did what I was taught when I was 5….I went to the basement with my pillow, my blankie and my rosary. God help us!! No wonder we are in such a mess!!! Thanks for the laugh though. I also laughed out loud when I read WOWOWOWOOOOOOWOWOWOOOOOOOOO last night.

  • LifelongDbnRes

    I don’t think the emergency phone calls are designed to be used in the event of a tornado warning. That said @air raids, I don’t think we need to look any further than Dundee to realize WHY we have these things in the first place. If we’ve got them and we’re using them, they OUGHT to at least be effective. Anybody know which city dept. I would call to tell them to ramp it up in my neighborhood???

  • spag80

    grindley park and oxford…never heard the sirens…never got a phone call…

  • Anthony

    I got some old 1980s-vintage Peavey PA speakers in my garage that I could donate to the City or County to replace the puny speakers on the poles there now. Those babies will rock your dental work a mile away, during ANY weather or military event.

    The sirens that were previously in place could wake me from a sound sleep even in the basement. Currently, I cannot detect the sirens sounding on the first Saturday of the month, even standing outside.

    With all due respect, Mary, that’s bordering on revisionist history. The City may have said something like they wanted a system that was both a PA system AND siren. The previous system was a mechanically-based siren-only. My recollection was that people were all up-in-arms at the time because a city official claimed that there was nothing wrong with the then-current mechanical system. The whole thing was covered in the newspapers, then. (I would like to reference the articles here, really, but newspapers have better things to do than be a public reference source.)

    Anthony

  • cloe

    Air Raid – I think you entirely missed the point.

    If we have a warning system, it should work and be heard by everyone in the city.

    I’m glad that you are not concerned by the damage that a severe storm or a tornado can do. Just because we are not in a part of the country that experiences a lot of them, does not mean that they cannot happen.

    You have obviously forgotten or are too young to remember the killer tornadoes that went through Flint not that long ago. It wiped out a great portion of the town.

    Nature’s fury is not to be taken lightly.

  • mary petlichkoff

    Anthony,

    With like due respect, I am only providing the explanations given to the Federation of Neighborhood Associations, when the effectiveness of the new system was discussed. It was my understanding that the County offered the system thru a Homeland Security grant to mutiple neighboring communities. The system was enhanced, not by a PA system , but thru its ability to interconnect with other cities on the line who could remotely activate the warning sirens if damage ocurred within one bordering town’s system. The City’s old system had many more areas of units covering neighborhoods while the new system was laid out differently with less mechanics supplied. This is what has left the gaps, apparently. My understanding was that the County was overiding the City on this system because of the need to be interdependent with surrounding towns. I am only able to provide the information given – I am not interested in “rewriting history”.

  • Donna Hay

    If I heard right – according to the mayor last night – the sirens belong to the County. They were the ones that put in the new system that does not work.

  • Anthony

    Again, if I would have clipped the articles (!) years ago when I read them in the Press & Guide, I would have had a reference for my comments today, but alas, I am not an article-clipper. If I can get my hands on those pieces, I will gladly reference them regarding when the “upgraded” system was put in place and the outcry that followed.

    Anthony

  • cloe

    Donna – Then, it is the mayor’s job, as our highest elected official, to tell the County that they do not work.

    If this is not taken care of and, hopefully, it never happens, people are killed because they did not hear the sirens, the City and the County will be morally and financially responsible.

    I don’t think that either of them would want to see this happen.

  • Happy Here

    Additionally, it was my understanding at that DFNA meeting that Mary referred to, that Wayne County disconnected Dearborn’s sirens without notifying the city.

  • Tom

    I live near Ford & Telegraph and I could NOT hear a siren (alarm).

  • jan

    nothing heard at ford and outer drive.

  • Lizzy

    I’m with you, Air Raids. This place ought to be renamed the Official Dearborn Whiners’ Blog. Some are actually complaining they didn’t receive a personal phone call to alert them of weather conditions?! Good grief, how do people this helpless survive in the world??

    I seriously doubt that anyone actually relies on these anachronistic sirens. It’s the 21st century and everyone has computers, cell phones, television & radio. They may as well shut down the sirens and put the money toward trash carts, or lawn inspectors, or whatever other triviality du jour you pampered princesses are complaining about this time.

  • Donna Hay

    Lizzy – if you get right down to the bottom line how many of us actually listen even though we have our TV, radio, internet, etc. I would venture to guess that the majority of us just stand and look out the window and then go about our business.

  • Wanting Better for Dearborn

    Lizzy,
    You missed the point.

    The City spent OUR tax dollars on the siren system as well as an automated calling service. The Mayor and Council felt that we needed this. Now the taxpayers are pissed because they spent OUR money for this and neither of them worked.

    The only time I heard they have used the automated calling system was to tell people to vote. I don’t thinking voting is an emergency but this situation it would have been helpful.

    Dundee is not that far from Dearborn. We could have been hit too. Weather can be very unpredictable. You may have the luxury of tv, internet, cell phones but many of our seniors living in facilities only have access to a tv in a common area and not their individual apartments. Most seniors do not have the internet or cell phones. Show a little compassion.

    Our tax dollars bought these items ELECTED officials told us we NEEDED so YES, we expect them to work. I don’t think that is whining, I think it is accountability.

  • Tom

    It’s not a “whine” but a fact. If we have a system, people should hear it, especially at 2:00 am when their computer, tv’s and other appliances are off.

  • Air Raiders Of The Lost Ark

    “It’s not a “whine” but a fact. If we have a system, people should hear it, especially at 2:00 am when their computer, tv’s and other appliances are off. ”

    I cried because I had no internet, until I met a man who had no civil defense sirens. The way things are going, we should set off those sirens when the stock market opens each day.

  • LifelongDbnRes

    I agree with all who say it’s not a whine. I brought it up initially because as you’ll recall it was LATE. I happened to be up later than usual watching tv. Had I gone to bed when I normally do, the OLD sirens would’ve woken me up and urged me downstairs from my second floor bedroom. Instead, had I gone to bed when I normally do this past weekend, I’d have slept right through it the way my neighbors did. No tv, cell phone, or Internet access would’ve notified me mid-sleep.

  • Helen

    Remember these sirens are also to let us know when there is a snow emergency. If I can’t hear the sirens, how will I know when to move my car. Last winter I never heard the siren. Never had a problem before. I agree our elected officials should make sure they work, no matter who owns them.

  • oldalldayschoolmom

    Funny how we could hear the sirens when the late mayor blasted them off on election night to remind people to vote, as his preferred candidates apparently were not getting the numbers his posse so desired.

    We barely heard the sirens the other night.

    Does it really matter whether the fault lies with the city or the county. In either case, we have paid for these sirens and expect them to work.

  • NObama & NOreilly

    Lizzy – not sure if you checked lately, but our city is operating at a DEFICIT. So, should we just sit back quietly and allow incompetent governments (city, state, & federal) to spend money on programs that don’t work. Granted it was money spent a few years ago, but the principle remains. Have you heard about Greece? Have you heard that European countries are in the process of back-tracking, and trying to cut back on their socialistic programs. Oh, and that happens the same time we are moving OUR great country into that very same directions others see as NOT working (see Greece). In summary, we should just sit back and relax, because our wonderful elected politicians know what’s best for us? Lizzy – in other words, you have got to be kidding me! My guess is that work under the very umbrella of which most of us constructively criticize, rightly so I must add (re-read the article again about a FAILED govt project using OUR money)

    Wanting Better for Dearborn is DEAD ON – it’s called accountability, and it needs to catch on like a wild fire if we are going to keep this country from financial collapse. The expectation should be that if the governement is going to spend our money on something that is needed, then I don’t think some of us are out of line when expecting the darn thing to actually work properly.

  • John Higgins

    This past winter I had to pay a $35 fine because my car was parked in the street 45 minutes after the ‘Snow Emergency’ sirens had gone off about 8:20 in the morning. I never heard the sirens, and so paid a stiff fine. It didn’t matter that the snowplows didn’t come down my street until 3:00 p.m., and the cars parked in the street then DIDN’T get ticketed.

  • Frosty

    Here you go John. Bookmark this site. When it predicts more than a couple inches of snow, move your car before you go to bed. It happens maybe two or three times per year.
    http://weather.yahoo.com/united-states/michigan/dearborn-12778614/

  • Lizzy

    Yes, the siren system was clearly a boondoggle & waste of tax money. The question is, what should be done with it now that it’s already in place?

    I humbly suggest that the city administration should sound the sirens whenever a new post is made on the DeepSaidWhat blog. This will spare the upstanding residents of West Dearborn from missing any critical rumors going around the city.

    The impact on other residents will be minimal, since everyone else simply ignores the sirens, the blog, and the rumors, anyway.

  • jbrook2

    OMG People – GROW UP and QUIT YOUR BITCHING, !!! You all should be used to the ways of our government and quit being so dependant on them. It doesn’t matter what our tax dollars paid for. Once the government gets their hands on it, we don’t count. You want accountability – QUIT HIRING THE SAME DEAD BEATS election after election.

    Anyway, I have been caught in the tail-end of a tornado, and never want to do that again. The only reason I knew we were under a tornado warning was because I PAY ATTENTION TO THE NEWS and they were talking about severe weather most of the day. I used to be able to hear the sirens too, WITH my air and TV on. That night, I had to open my door and step outside to hear the siren off in the distance. But I kept my TV on channel 2 all night with the volume up LOUD, and between them and the Emergency Broadcast Notification System, I was kept wide awake and well informed of where this storm was heading. The Emergency Broadcast System was going off every 5 minutes and it’s impossible to sleep with that obnoxious noise.

    By the way, it did get close. The clouds were circling at I94 and Telegraph according to the weather report on channel 2. You all would have known that had you been listening to the news and not trying to find the siren sound. Oh, and if the weatherman predicts more than an inch of snow, GET YOUR DAMN CAR OFF THE STREET. If you lived in Dearborn long enough, you should have that figured out by now.

  • MyTwoSenseToo

    Agreed! Citizens everywhere should not be dependent on the government for every little thing. But…..

    #1. We paid for it. It should work properly!

    #2. If we loose power (REMEMBER WHEN MANY CITIES LOST POWER FOR THREE DAYS?) how will we know of any approaching danger? Sirens working properly would be needed. I am assuming that the sirens have some kind of back up power. Not everyone prepares for emergencies. This is sad but true.

    Marge: What you are saying about self accountabilty is
    true. You need to talk to the police officers who worked the desks in every city affected by those storms that night. They will tell you of the many many phone calls they recieved.
    Questions like: Why are the sirens going off? I don’t have a basement. Where do I go? My basement is flooding. What should I do? I walked downstairs, stuck my foot in the water and got a shock. Am I okay?

    I hope I have made my point.

  • Chicken Lydell

    “#2. If we loose power (REMEMBER WHEN MANY CITIES LOST POWER FOR THREE DAYS?) how will we know of any approaching danger?”

    You’ll hear ominous background music. Like JS Bach’s Toccata And Fugue In D Minor. When you hear that music, run Forest, run!

  • John Higgins

    Thanks, Frosty, for the weather site. That probably wouldn’t have helped me that day, because I did watch two different weather predictions on the 11:00 news the night before, and they both said there wouldn’t be any real snow until after noon.

    Has anyone mapped the areas of complaint, Mr. Deep? I notice that the Warren and Schaefer area was listed as having a problem with the sirens, although someone above seems to think it is only West-enders who have complained.

  • MyTwoSenseToo

    Oh Chicken Lydell:

    You must have been the phone call that night made to the police department asking why the sirens were playing
    JS Bach’s Toccata And Fugue In D Minor.

    We heard about you.

    Whatever!

  • sickandtired

    Holy crap people. Stop bringing up irrational unrelated things. the fact remains that I like a lot of people here, can NOT hear the sirens. Jack, get off your butt and get it fixed. Case closed. Because I WILL sue if a tornado hits my house and I could not hear the warning.