City of Carnation declares state of emergency after latest false evacuation alarm

The City of Carnation City Council voted unanimously to declare a state of emergency Wednesday evening after the most recent Tolt River Dam false evacuation alarm.

The city council says that it is concerned for the safety of its residents as no all-clear signal was given after the incident.

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People living in the city have already asked that Seattle Public Utilities be held accountable after the first false alarm. 

Deputy Mayor Tim Harris blames the false alarms on the dam’s old and failing early alert system.

“This is a serious situation and it has been happening way too often. The amount of time that it has taken to get the new emergency siren system online has allowed to old system to degrade to the point where now the old system is failing and is causing these types of issues that we are dealing with false alarms in the city of Carnation,” said Harris.

The city council’s biggest fear is that Carnation residents will no longer take the warning system seriously if the false alarms continue.

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