I was born in 1978, so probably an 80s kid. We got herded into the school library and shown the film where the kid climbs up a pylon to get his kite and ends up a smoking heap in the ground. It was scary enough to give one girl an asthma attack.
About sirens... I’ve told this one in here before, but, when the DCs were very small we moved to the US for DH’s work, to a city in “tornado alley” in the Midwest. A few days after we’d arrived, still jet lagged and disoriented, DH had a meeting, so dropped us off at a nearly park so DS could let off some steam. So I’m alone in a new place, outdoors with a toddler and a baby and these big fucking sirens start going off like the world’s about to end. I’m wondering if we should dive into a nearby drainage ditch and take cover from whatever impending disaster is coming, but the handful of other people in the park seem oblivious to the impending Armageddon and are carrying on as if nothing is happening. Finally the sirens stop and the world carries on, but I was a nervous wreck until DH arrived to pick us up. It turns out they test the tornado warning sirens every Saturday at noon throughout the city; just a regular thing that the locals take for granted (but scares the shit out of ignorant visitors and newcomers). It was amazing how such a terrifying sound became part of lives for a few years.
Anyways, I’m off to bed. It’s DH’s birthday tomorrow.