CARNATION, Wash. — The Tolt River Dam warning system, designed to warn of a breach in the earthen dam holding back the Tolt reservoir, has not sounded three times during tests in the past several months.
Now, King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert is calling on Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Seattle Public Utilities to make investments to upgrade and improve the dam warning system and evacuation routes.
The dam, which is 16 miles upstream from Carnation, is owned and operated by the City of Seattle. If the dam fails, it could be devastating for the residents of Carnation.
The warning system is the life line for residents there. It would give them the valuable few minutes they would need to evacuate before the town would be flooded with 30 feet of water.
In July 2020, the warning system sent out a false alarm, terrifying the residents of Carnation and causing them to evacuate to higher ground.
Lambert said in a statement to KING 5 that the siren warning system failures are eroding the public's trust.
"Over 1,500 residents of Carnation and the surrounding unincorporated areas rely on the warning system to provide accurate and timely alerts in the event of a dam failure," said Lambert in a statement. "This pattern of failures further erodes the public’s trust and confidence that City of Seattle is ready, willing, and able to respond to a real disaster."
Seattle Public Utilities said there isn't a problem and in a statement to KING 5 said, "While the alarm did not sound yesterday during the weekly test, dam safety monitoring was never interrupted."
