The Hurricane was an supercharged electro-mechanical siren manufactured by Alerting Communicators of America. It was available in 8/10, 10/12, 8/12 port, or single tone 8, 10, or 12 port configurations, but only 8/10 models were produced. There was also a multi-signal option available upon request per the manual, likely to compete with the Thunderbolt 1003, but such models were never produced. It was 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 included a pole mounted vertical blower, controller removed from blower assembly and housed in its 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, broke down in late 2007 and was replaced
130
Normal, IL
2 (Exact number unknown), Removed
130 MKII
Crystal River, FL
1 (Exact Number Unknown), Removed
130 MKII
Centralia, IL
1, Removed In 2010, Recently changed ownership into the hands of a collector in Michigan.
130
Darien, IL
2, both removed as of May 29, 2021. 1 atop fire station removed & replaced in May 2021. The earliest one removed reportedly is in private posession; while the fire station one is in possession of the vendor.
130 MKII
Garland, TX
4, Removed
130 MKII
Greendale, WI
1, Removed
130 MKII
Greenville, TX
2, Inactive
130 MKII
La Crescent, MN
3, all removed. 1 replaced by a Sentry 10V at an unknown date, one was removed when a water slide was built in its place, and the last one was replaced in 2015.
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.
130 MKII
Rolling Meadows, IL
3, replaced in the 1980s with Alertronics
130
Bridgman, MI
9, removed in 2000. Installed for the Donald C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant in 1982.
130 MKII
Oak Harbor, OH
5, all removed. Originally installed in 1981 for the initial phase of the Davis-Besse NPP System. Sirens had issues and were replaced with 39 Thunderbolts in 1982 for a main system. Legacy system was replaced with 2001-SRNs in 2000.
130 MKII
Minnetonka, MN
6, removed in mid 1990's and replaced with 2001-SRNs.
130
Elk Grove Village, IL
4, all removed. One was mounted on a water tank and was replaced by a P-50.
130
DeKalb, IL
3, all removed. Replaced by 2001s in 1989 due to partial system failure during tornado warning.
130
A Hurricane at Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant in Oak Harbor, OH. The system of Hurricanes were replaced in the mid-late 1990'sDonald C. Cook Hurricane in St. Joseph, Michigan
