Warning to anyone thinking about buying a home in Gibbon, Nebraska (Otoe: real estate, tornado)

[Sandhills homesteader]

Be forewarned!! Gibbon has LOUD LOUD LOUD civil defense sirens that go off at 7am, noon, 1pm, and at 6pm Monday through Saturday, and anytime there's a 911 call requiring the ambulance or fire truck night or day. It's a tornado siren that's easily over 100db that blares right into your home, so if you have a night job, or swing shift job, or any kind of health issues that require you to get rest, or if you simply just want to sleep in on Saturday, take a nap over your lunch break, or need to go to bed early after a tiring work day DO NOT BUY REAL ESTATE THERE!! I know someone who lives there and it's extremely difficult. If you're looking to buy a home there, and those sirens aren't going off while you're there viewing the home, you'll be none the wiser, and completely out of luck once you close on your home. You're welcome.

[heavymind]

Thanks for the warning.

Fewer than 2,000 population? Sounds like paradise to me, sirens or no sirens. Added to my list of potential relocation areas.

[Charlie&Rose]

Originally Posted by heavymind

Thanks for the warning.

Fewer than 2,000 population? Sounds like paradise to me, sirens or no sirens. Added to my list of potential relocation areas.

Unless you are deaf, sounds (no pun intended) like a real nightmare.

[Seguinite]

I just spent several minutes with Google, and I can't find anything that says they don't sound the sirens in Buffalo county four times a day six days a week... but there were items that talked about testing of the upgraded system throughout the week in mid-October of this year. I'll go out on a limb and call BS on the first post.


You'll find hundred of links to info on the regularly scheduled monthly tests of the storm sirens throughout the state.


My dogs don't agree, but I welcome the tests, which I think are the 1st Saturday at 10:00am in Otoe county.

[StealthRabbit]

Noon and 6pm is quite common but never heard 7am and 1pm (but it's possible). When farming with horses, it was handy.

My 26 yo aunt was dying of rheumatic fever, during WWII, and her home was at the base of a CD tower. She would scream in pain at each whistle. (Not in Gibbon, but nearby)

My Thailand location has disco until 3am, dogfight at 4am, call to prayer at 5am, then scooter rush hour starts at 6am. Rural Nebraska seems a bit more mellow most of the time.

[rodentraiser]

I used to live in Bremerton on the main drag through town. Starting at 10pm, the guys with the leaf blowers would start. At midnight, you'd get the street sweepers. At 2am, the local garbage trucks would come through. At 4 the deliveries started. At 6, the morning commute through town to the ferries began. If you wanted to sleep at night, your best bet would be 4 sleeping tablets at 9 before all the noise started. Now I live where you can hear a branch drop in the woods a mile away - and I'm partially deaf!

[mlulu23]

I've been using an inexpensive box fan on the 2nd setting of 3 for almost 50 yrs as white noise to drown out outside noise. Very effective. Adjust speed accordingly, and face it away from you if needed.

[chiluvr1228]

I briefly lived in Mt. Olive, NC and their rescue was all voluntary so at any time day or night the siren would go off about a mile from where we lived. While I eventually got used to the train whistle a block away, I was never able to sleep through the siren, which I guess is the point.

[Sandhills homesteader]

Originally Posted by Seguinite

I just spent several minutes with Google, and I can't find anything that says they don't sound the sirens in Buffalo county four times a day six days a week... but there were items that talked about testing of the upgraded system throughout the week in mid-October of this year. I'll go out on a limb and call BS on the first post.


You'll find hundred of links to info on the regularly scheduled monthly tests of the storm sirens throughout the state.


My dogs don't agree, but I welcome the tests, which I think are the 1st Saturday at 10:00am in Otoe county.

Call the city yourself and ask them. 308-468-6118. Ask anyone. Call them. It's absolutely 100% true. They aren't testing the sirens. They use them to simply "mark time," bc, if you ask the city council, "it's what we've always done, and it's nostalgic." Well, most sirens like this originated bc of sundowner laws. Sundowner laws were town sirens that went off to let the local Native American and black populations know when it was OK to enter a town, and at what time they had to leave. Because Nebraska is a highly Native American state, AND in the 1800's early 1900'a there were multiple KKK groups near Gibbon, those sirens probably have a dark history. But who knows? Needless to say, they are majorly disruptive to home business conference calls, being sick and trying to sleep or wanting to sleep in on your day off.

[Sandhills homesteader]

Originally Posted by mlulu23

I've been using an inexpensive box fan on the 2nd setting of 3 for almost 50 yrs as white noise to drown out outside noise. Very effective. Adjust speed accordingly, and face it away from you if needed.

Can't drown out a 130db tornado siren standing outside your home.