Carnation says its time for Seattle to pay up, calling new Tolt River Dam sirens a complete failure
CARNATION, Wash. - After declaring a state of emergency over false alarms at the Tolt River Dam, community leaders in Carnation are now saying a new siren warning system is a complete failure.
Speakers at a public safety news conference Wednesday morning say this shortcoming is just another slap in the face from the dam’s owner, the city of Seattle.
A handful of Carnation residents argue the problem with the new technology is it's difficult to hear indoors.
"Even for me living right across the street from it, it’s far more difficult to hear and understand compared to the previous one," said Greg Jamiel.
"If we pause all conversation in our downtown building, we can barely make it out," said Laura Smith.
Back on October 18, Seattle Public Utilities decommissioned the old system which, over a span of six years, sounded six different false alarms. Seattle Public Utilities acknowledged growing frustration with the new network in a statement sent to FOX 13:
"We continue to make improvements to the system’s sound volume and quality, including upgrading all speakers, speaker amplifiers and re-recording voice messages. We are working to complete these additional improvements as quickly as possible. We expect all three items to be completed by January 2024. There is also a Phase II to this project which expands the capabilities of the alerting system beyond the original system. These enhancements include additional indoor alerting devices, new static signs, and highway message signs, and we expect this phase to be completed by the end of 2024."
'People were so traumatized'; Carnation city leaders demand action on Seattle's Tolt Dam
People in Carnation have spoken, and they are done living with risk of the Tolt River Dam collapsing, especially since they have seen none of the reward from the water it supplies.
Carnation Mayor Jim Ribail sees these promises as half-baked. He’s come up with a new tactic to hold the city of Seattle to account.
"If we have to do anything to make our citizens safe, the city of Seattle will receive a bill for that," said Ribail.
City Manager Ana Cortez shared the city plans to collect on maintenance to the evacuation route.
"We are also charging for services connected to the mental state of this community," said Cortez. "Do we expect them to just write us a check probably not, but it begins to be a conversation."