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Camano Island resident warns 2019 outage exposed life-or-death cellphone gaps; board says tower decisions fall to state
Summary
Stuart Hunt told the Island County Board of Commissioners a four-day 2019 outage left his neighborhood without phone service and said a single cell tower could save lives; a commissioner said tower siting and authority rest with the state and the UTC and noted a recent local tower appeal is before a hearing examiner.
Stuart Hunt, a resident of Rocky Point on Camano Island, told the Island County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 20 that a December 2019 storm produced a four-day power outage that left his neighborhood without cell or landline service and created life-or-death risks for residents who could not call for help.
"In an outage ... you can't call a neighbor, relative, or anyone. Death is a clear reality because you are out of options," Hunt said, urging the board to convene Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile and to permit a single…
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