History and Why Sirens. Hiya. The alarm sounded like that for a flood warning and lasted about five minutes. That's because an extremely loud air-raid type siren, the likes of which you would have heard during wartime, is to fill the air at 2.30pm. There was also the Friday 11:00 a.m. siren in our city. Civil Defense first installed sirens as air raid sirens to warn the public of a possible attack or nuclear war. "It's a neat thing to look at," says Claire Bryden, referring to the air raid siren near the corner of Dundas St. W. and Shaw St., a remnant of Toronto's age of atomic anxiety. People in Greenhithe woke up to the sound of a loud siren going off early this morning. I moved to Squirrel Hill South last fall and have noticed that at night (minimum once a week, up to a few nights a week - depending on how quiet the house is) I hear an air raid siren going off. Over the past few weeks, I have heard what can only be described as an air raid siren, a few times, although for all the years I have been in this area, this is a fairly recent occurrence. I don't remember what that signified. I loved learning about WW2 in primary school and did not have this fear then, it developed around the age of 13. I went to school in the 50's and 60's in NJ. Discover Phinney Park Air Raid Tower in Seattle, Washington: This Cold War siren is one off the last of its kind still standing with its immensely powerful original horn. During the Cuban Missle Crisis, someone in their infinite wisdom decided to have an air raid drill! I'm 23 and have not lived through a war! I feel nervous if I hear one on a film, song, tv etc. I would like to know if anyone can give me a reason as to why I am really scared of he sound of air raid sirens? Sirens could potentially be used to alert people of a shelter in place or evacuation order; however, this would be done at the direction of the siren owner. At a guess, I'd say it was somewhere in the Hampton area, maybe along the Hampton Court to Sunbury road. The entire junior high panicked! People in Bow, Poplar and by Tower Bridge have reported hearing an air raid sirens, leading many to question why the "spooky" sound has been set off amidst the coronavirus lockdown Jason Carriere Emergency Management Coordinator City Hall 825 W. Irving Blvd. I can remember the air raid drills when the sirens went off suddenly, and we would file out to the hallways and cover our heads. I live right off the Squirrel Hill exit on 376 East, and it sounds like it's coming from the direction of Homestead. Air raid sirens, tornado sirens and the volunteer fire station siren (that was how they alerted the volunteers).....seems like some siren was always going off. Irving, TX 75060 P: (972) 721-2100 F: (972) 721-2186 Staff Directory