The Hurricane was an Electromechanical siren manufactured by Alerting Communicators of America. It was an 8/10 port dual tone siren, meant to compete with Federal Signal's Thunderbolt siren series at the time. Two known models were produced. First came the Hurricane 130, which was a rectangular horned model that closely resembled Federal's Thunderbolt siren. Later on, A.C.A. opted to change the design of the Hurricane to make it stand out from the Thunderbolt and avoid potential lawsuits over the two similar designs. Aside from that, they decided to correct some design flaws that were discovered in the original model. These changes to the design include, pole mounted vertical blower, controller removed from blower assembly and housed in it's own cabinet, and most notably, the horn changed from rectangular to round. This model was dubbed the Hurricane 130 MKII by the company. In 1981, A.C.A. ceased production of the Hurricane in favor of the P-50.
A Hurricane two years before being removed in Garland, Texas
Cities using the Hurricane
Cities Using Or That Have Used The ACA Hurricane
Number of Sirens, Operation Status
Model
Addyston, OH
1, Removed, in private possession
130 MKII
Baxter, MN
1, Removed
130
Normal, IL
2 (Exact number unknown), Removed
130 MKII
Crystal River, FL
Approximately 10, Removed (Crystal River NPP system)
130 MKII
Centralia, IL
1, Removed In 2010, Recently changed ownership into the hands of a collector in Michigan.
130
Darien, IL
2, 1 Still Operational, 1 Removed for Private Possession.
130 MKII
Fayetteville, OH
1, Removed
130 MKII
Garland, TX
4, Removed
130 MKII
Greendale, WI
1, Removed
130 MKII
Greenville, TX
2, most likely inactive
130 MKII
La Crescent, MN
3, Removed (1 Hurricane was replaced by a Sentry siren and other Hurricane was replaced by a Federal Signal 2001-130)
130 MKII
Milwaukee, WI
2, 1 operational. The other one is stored at the American Signal Corporation Headquarters. More were installed in the city at one time
