[ad_1]
A German-wide test alarm should be used in the morning for dangerous situations such as storms or attacks. But many things went wrong on the so-called warning day. The Federal Ministry of the Interior is self-critical.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior has described the morning’s nationwide test alarm as “failed”. The reason for this is a technical problem. “The processes are now being processed in a comprehensive manner,” the ministry announced. The knowledge gained will be taken into account in the future development of the alert system.
In reality, on the first nationwide alert day, sirens and other alert systems need to go off nationwide at eleven o’clock, and the go-ahead should only be given 20 minutes after the test warning. Among other things, it was intended to broadcast the warning on radio and television, as well as through warning applications. However, this resulted in various delays and problems.
“Failure to comply with the agreements”
The announced danger message from the NINA and KATWARN warning apps only reached smartphones half an hour late. The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) in Bonn explained this breakdown in hindsight by triggering a large number of warning messages at the same time.
According to President Christoph Unger, initial analyzes showed that not only was a central warning triggered as planned at 11am, but many other connected control centers also issued warnings independently. “It has not fulfilled the agreements,” said Unger dem SWR. That led to a system overload.
Many mermaids have already been dismantled
Sometimes the day of the warning completely bypassed the population. For Munich, a fire department spokesman said there had been no sirens in the state capital for many years. They were gradually dismantled after the end of the Cold War. On social media, many users expressed surprise that the sirens did not sound. The Association for the Deaf jokingly tweeted: “Well, we haven’t heard anything.”
The vice chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Michael Theurer, described the warning day as a “fiasco”. Instead of familiarizing the population with the warning systems, the day showed that they were not working properly. “In the area of disasters and civil protection there is an urgent need for action in practically all of Germany,” Theurer said. The federal government must now address the failures of the various systems and present concrete solutions.
Warning day once a year from now on
The fact that sirens were not heard in many places shows that different “warning routes and warning devices” are needed, said BBK president Unger. Just turning on the sirens wouldn’t work today. “We need the mix.” The next big test alarm is set for September next year “and by then we should have corrected the deficits,” Unger said.
The BBK is responsible for the test alarm at the federal level and the interior ministries in the federal states. In addition, the authorities responsible for disaster control are usually involved in the municipalities. The national warning day is meant to prepare for dangerous situations like floods, chemical accidents or terrorist attacks. According to a decision of the Conference of Ministers of the Interior, it will take place every year on the second Thursday of September.
