CANNON BEACH, Ore. — People near Cannon Beach may have heard the tsunami warning siren system go off Wednesday morning. Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District clarified Wednesday afternoon that the siren was due to a mechanical issue and unrelated to work being done on the system this week.
A viewer who lives in Cannon Beach reached out to KGW Wednesday morning, wondering why they could hear the tsunami alert system.
The Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District said it went off around 6 a.m. and was isolated to the midtown siren.
"This appears to have been caused by a failure of a control board in that siren tower," Cannon Beach Rural Fire said in a news release. "In an actual emergency, wail tones varying from a low to high warble sound followed by evacuation instructions will be heard. The testing tones are audible cow sounds."
Around 6:15 a.m., Cannon Beach Rural Fire shared a post on Facebook saying, "There is no Tsunami. The city is taking care of the issue of turning off the alarm."
The mechanical issue came as contractors happen to be testing the tsunami warning siren system this week. Contractors are working to upgrade the entire system, which includes replacing radios and speakers in the towers.
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