Hall County, GA
| Hall County, GA | |
 One of Hall County's Modulators, with a noticeable lean. Photo courtesy of Sirens Down South | |
| Type | Weather |
|---|---|
| Location | Hall County, GA |
| Status | Active |
| Testing dates | 1st Wednesday of February, May, August, and November |
| Testing times | 9:00 AM (Georgia Severe Weather Preparedness Week)
10:00 AM (May, August, November)
|
Hall County is a county located in the northeast portion of the U.S. state of Georgia, with a population of around 200,000. Hall County maintains a network of 23 outdoor warning sirens located strategically throughout the county and has had sirens as far back as the 1970s.
History
It is not exactly known before December 1999 if Hall County had a siren system or not, however reports of siren installations and an entire planned system have been recorded. At least 1 C1 1/2 Federal Sign & Signal Model 5 was extant in Flowery Branch sometime in the 1970s, however no other siren locations have ever been confirmed. In March of 1973, Hall County’s civil defense director recommended to the board of commissioners that 7 sirens should be installed, 1 atop the public safety building and the rest at fire departments. It is not known as of now what sirens these could have been or if they even existed, but if they did, they were assumed to be Thunderbolts. On March 20th, 1998, a powerful F3 tornado struck Hall County, killing 3 and demolishing the north wing of North Hall High School. The following year, Hall County purchased 10 Federal Signal Modulator 6048Bs as a direct response to the tornado.
The 1st unit was installed at North Hall High School, only a few hundred yards from where the tornado directly struck the campus. The rest were all installed at other schools and the historical society in Clermont. In 2008, Hall County began to purchase several Federal Signal 2001-130s as a supplement to the existing sirens. In 2011, the Modulator in Clermont was removed and was subsequently replaced by a 2001-130 at Hall County Fire Station 2. The last 2001-130 was installed in 2012. In December 2018, a task was brought upon Table Rock Alerting Systems and McCranie Warning Systems to replace 7 out of the 10 remaining Modulators in Hall County, as many of them were already showing their age due to a lack of maintenance. In fact, the last time a service tag was dropped on a Modulator in Hall County was likely in 2003. The replacements chosen for the dilapidated Modulators were brand new Whelen VORTEXR4s, of which continue to serve Hall County to this day. It is also worth noting that the UNG campus south of Gainesville owns a Federal Signal DSA 2x1 array, along with the county owned 2001-130 on campus. Additionally, Crazy Mule Arts & Antiques was known to have been sold a FS&S-era Model D as a burglar alarm, however a field visit indicated that it was not present within the building.
Schedule
Hall County tests their sirens on the 1st Wednesdays of February at 9:00 AM (as a part of the Georgia Severe Weather Preparedness Week), and May, August, and November at 10:00 AM. Units are silent tested every day. The testing time and date is always subject to change, so it is recommended to check Hall County’s website[1] before going to a test.