Video up! This is just the sirens, as I chose not to video the gunfire & fireworks... Just in case someone thinks they should hassle me about it from Youtube.
The audio in my Canon digital camera sucks, and it doesn't do the sirens any justice. But I'll tell you without exaggerating, 130 db at 100 feet is LOUD! Anyone who lives in a city with storm warning sirens, knows all about how loud. The Thunderbolt (heard but not seen) in this video is what the City of Dallas used for tornado warning up til this year, when they began replacing all of them with newer, smaller battery-backed-up sirens. The Model 5 (the one you see on the sidewalk in the video), is what Los Angeles used for the Soviet Nuke threat warning during the Cold War.
The Thunderbolt actually sounds accurate in the video, as I have the horn aimed away from the house, and on the opposite side of the house. So where I'm standing with the camera is very sheltered, and really what you hear from the Thunderbolt is a bounce off the cliff on the other side of the highway about 1/2 mile away. The Model 5 you see, can easily be felt in the chest, even standing 500 feet away.
YouTube - New Years Eve 2009-10 Cold War air raid sirens sounded at midnight in Ventura County, CA
Charles