City of Oakdale reassures water is safe after an alert was sent to wrong community
OAKDALE – A city in Stanislaus County has found itself in a misunderstanding more than halfway across the country.
Residents living in Oakdale received a notification of a water outage. Turns out, the message should have only been delivered to people living in a Louisiana community.
"I think that's pretty silly," Scott Boyer said. "I think our water is just fine."
It blindsided the city of Oakdale. Residents began reaching out to the city after people shared an alert online.
Last Friday, a mayor declared a state of emergency for a water outage. But it was meant for the city of Oakdale in Louisiana where the Louisiana National Guard delivered water to the community.
Worried Californians did not catch the location.
"If it happened, I'm sure I would hear about it," said Nikolas Taylor, another resident.
But after the hazardous train derailment in Ohio, some people living in the California city say it is not hard to understand the false alarm.
So why did some people in Oakdale, Calif., receive a notification about the water problem in Louisiana?
The city manager's office told CBS13 it may have had something to do with a glitch in the alert system.
The city said the notification could have easily gone out to any Oakdale in the U.S., regardless of the state.
When the city posted on social media about the confusion, it says it started to receive fewer questions and concerns.
Some retailers in town are familiar with the confusion when Louisianians call their stores by mistake.
"Definitely, they do have a little twang to them," said Tony Reynosa, who works at a store in town.
From the Cowboy Capital of the World to Cajun Country, the only thing these cities share is a name but not a water dilemma.
