Random information gathering. Feel free to answer if you're not on my friends list, if you stumble upon this post at some point in the distant future, or repost if you happen to share my curiosity
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I was born in 1977 in Iowa. We had tornado drills, which involved going into a (hypothetically) window-less hall, sitting facing the wall, covering one's head and neck with one's hands or a textbook. That was at my Christian elementary school (which also did bus evacuation drills). I don't remember doing tornado or bus drills when I switched to public school in 5th grade, only fire drills.
Our local tornado sirens still go off at noon every Saturday. As of last year, they're no longer limited to use during tornado warnings, however, making them all but useless. Now they go off with any type of severe weather, which means if you hear one you have to go online and check to see if it's a tornado (drop everything and go to the basement) or a thunderstorm (because you need a siren to tell you there's thunder, lightning, and heavy rain outside, or you might wander out into it by accident).
We had the siren go off at noon every day in Ventnor. Once I left NJ, I didn't hear it again 'til we moved here. It made me jump in a good way!
Our middle school and all sturdy buildings had the old "Fallout Shelter" signs everywhere, We did not get D&C drills by the 60's/70's, but we did get disaster education and boating safety specific to living on a tiny set of barrier islands that flooded frequently.
I forgot. I heard the siren go off once, as an evac alert, during Hurricane Belle in the 70's. Also, it being the politically weird 70's, we'd have fire drills, the occasional bomb threat, and now and then a race riot in high school.
I also grew up in San Diego, born in 1981. We had earthquake drills (duck'n'cover - cause our flimsy desks would TOTALLY protect us if the roof caved in), as well as an earthquake preparedness plan with occasional full-scale drills where we actually went outside and sat on tarps on the playground, and had emergency water and food rations stored, and the older kids were supposed to help take care of the younger kids, etc. Very elaborate. Never had to use any of it, thank goodness.
In Philly, where I went to middle and high school, we had the occasional hurricane drill, where we went to the basement and sat in the hallway. Very exciting. Haha.
Also fire drills, but I think that's pretty universal.
Napier, NZ, 1978. We had earthquake drills (under desk or in doorway) right through primary school. Still occasionally have civil defense siren, but usully only when they're testing them.
I was born in 1977 and have spent my entire life in The South™. :-) We had tornado drills in elementary school where we ducked and covered against interior walls. Tornadoes were very likely but I can imagine someone thinking that the drills could come in handy in case of a foreign attack.
Being in tornado country, we had tornado sirens. They went off one day a week at Noon. My dad was involved in the local Civil Defense chapter, so I knew that the siren had two patterns. A wail meant tornado and that was pretty much the only sound anyone heard. A second one was sort of a yelp sound and it meant that we were under attack. One day, the wrong siren sounded during the noon test and I wanted to tell as many kids in my second grade class exactly what it meant. They weren't impressed. I've always been just a smidgen bit different. :-)
(For the record, I stumbled across you via zyzyly and thought I'd chime in.)
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Our local tornado sirens still go off at noon every Saturday. As of last year, they're no longer limited to use during tornado warnings, however, making them all but useless. Now they go off with any type of severe weather, which means if you hear one you have to go online and check to see if it's a tornado (drop everything and go to the basement) or a thunderstorm (because you need a siren to tell you there's thunder, lightning, and heavy rain outside, or you might wander out into it by accident).
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Our middle school and all sturdy buildings had the old "Fallout Shelter" signs everywhere, We did not get D&C drills by the 60's/70's, but we did get disaster education and boating safety specific to living on a tiny set of barrier islands that flooded frequently.
I'm 48 years old, for reference.
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In Philly, where I went to middle and high school, we had the occasional hurricane drill, where we went to the basement and sat in the hallway. Very exciting. Haha.
Also fire drills, but I think that's pretty universal.
No sirens of any kind either place I've lived.
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Being in tornado country, we had tornado sirens. They went off one day a week at Noon. My dad was involved in the local Civil Defense chapter, so I knew that the siren had two patterns. A wail meant tornado and that was pretty much the only sound anyone heard. A second one was sort of a yelp sound and it meant that we were under attack. One day, the wrong siren sounded during the noon test and I wanted to tell as many kids in my second grade class exactly what it meant. They weren't impressed. I've always been just a smidgen bit different. :-)
(For the record, I stumbled across you via zyzyly and thought I'd chime in.)
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