[ad_1]
Today the aircraft alarm is being tested. Three ul of the sirens, at one minute intervals. “Important message, information search.” But in 222 of the country’s municipalities, no one can hear them.
A typhoon, popularly called an airplane alarm, on the roof of Østbanehallen in Oslo. In peacetime, the Civil Defense tests all typhoons in the country twice a year, at 12 noon on the second Wednesday in January and June. Photograph: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB
At least 2.2 million people live too far from the nearest siren, or typhoon, as they are actually called, to be able to hear it. Shows a survey that Aftenposten has done. In 62 percent of the country’s municipalities, they all live out of earshot.
The civil defense estimates that typhoons have a range of 500 to 750 meters in flat, open landscape. As is well known, we have little of this in Norway and therefore the number of people who do not hear the airplane alarm is probably even more than two million.
Additionally, 14.5 percent of us have a significant hearing impairment, according to the HLF interest group. This makes the Norwegian Association of the Deaf concerned about the situation.
– There are no deaf people who hear this warning which is based on sound. Deaf people also can’t hear what they say on the radio, says counselor Elisabeth Frantzen Holte.
– Deaf older people living alone, deaf immigrants and those who may not be stable on the technology front also do not get information that can be shared later through, for example, online newspapers, he says.
222 quiet municipalities
Aftenposten’s calculation shows that in 222 of the country’s municipalities no one lives close enough to a typhoon to be able to hear it.
Located during the Cold War
Typhoons were established during the Cold War. They were located in cities and towns and near major factories.
Municipalities with a higher risk of air strikes during the war had to build more shelters than other municipalities. Several shelters produced more typhoons.
– The warning facilities were mainly deployed to warn the population to take refuge in the event of an air attack, explains the director of the department in the Directorate of Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB), Sigurd Heier.
Now, however, both the threat landscape and the settlement pattern are different. Yet typhoons remain where they “always” have been.
Digital aircraft alarm is on the way
Therefore, two years ago, DSB recommended that a new notification system be established via the mobile network, rather than expanding the current typhoon system.
Last year, this was further investigated by the Ministry of Justice, and DSB has now mapped the costs and the technicalities.
– It will also provide opportunities to reach a lot more people, as it is not just based on a sound signal, says Heier.
The mobile alert will be able to alert everyone who stays within a certain area, not just those who live there. Plus you can notify faster in an emergency.
– With typhoon warning, you only get a warning and have to look elsewhere for information. With mobile notification, we can notify and report at the same time, and thus arrive faster, he explains.
However, the mobile alert will not replace the old typhoons, but will be a complement, according to Heier.
– Typhoons must warn the population to seek information. This is especially important at night, because then many will not register that there is a message on the mobile and will not follow the media. Typhoons are robust and reliable, he says.
Where is the nearest typhoon?
On the map below, you can see where the country’s 1,274 typhoons are located. Get away to see all of Norway.
