After debates about possibly inadequate warnings of natural disasters in Germany, the Bavarian cabinet will deal with the siren expansion this Tuesday. Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) had announced that the Free State wanted to double the number of sirens to around 26,000. As a first step, these are intended to encourage people to find out more about the details of a crisis situation. After sirens had been dismantled for a long time, one noticed that they were “the most important acoustic means” around the middle of the night.
According to information from SZ Prime Minister Markus Söder’s (CSU) cabinet should first initiate a survey in all municipalities – about the actual availability of sirens and their condition. There is no central control. The number of 12,000 to 14,000 sirens given by the Home Office is based on estimates.
By the beginning of the nineties there was a nationwide, efficient siren network. Many citizens knew the warning tones exactly, regular test alarms were part of everyday life. After the end of the Cold War, the federal government gave up the siren network and offered it to the municipalities for takeover, including costs. For this reason, but also because of the apparently eliminated danger, cities and municipalities in Bavaria also made reluctant use of it.
“It is not the case that the municipalities have deliberately renounced the devices and dismantled them,” explains Wilfried Schober, fire department advisor at the Bavarian Municipal Assembly. “It’s a gradual process. If an old siren has to be replaced by a new one, for example because the old schoolhouse on which it stands is being torn down, it just doesn’t happen.” Does this mean Bavaria is adequately armed in the event of a disaster?
The high number of deaths in the floods in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate could “be seen as an indication that those affected did not receive appropriate warnings or did not receive them in good time or did not take them seriously enough or did not know how to properly deal with the dangerous situation cautious “, it was recently said in an urgency motion by the CSU and Free Voters in the state parliament. He calls on the state government to check the siren network and close “any gaps that have been identified”.
It should also be clarified whether the citizens understand the meaning of the signals. In addition, Bavaria is to work with the federal government to create the legal requirements for warning push messages on mobile phones.
A sound that “causes tinnitus”? Finding a place for the siren is difficult
When a disaster is not occurring, sirens are less popular. Even in rural areas, where the fire brigade traditionally has great support from the population, the communities are finding it increasingly difficult to find a location. Anna Nagl, mayor of the 3800-inhabitant town of Falkenberg (Rottal-Inn district) can confirm this. For four years she has been arguing with a citizen about the siren of the community. He didn’t want her on the roof of his house anymore. “It was too loud for him, allegedly he got tinnitus from her tone,” says Nagl. A new location was needed.
“It was not that easy at all, the roof must have a corresponding power supply, lightning protection and of course fire protection,” reports Nagl. The new location had to be close to the old one, “from there it can reach most of our community.” But also the man for whom it is too loud: In 2017 he went to court, the dispute is still there. “We finally have to go through with this,” said the mayor, referring to the recent disasters.
Wilfried Schober from the community convention has heard of such cases several times. Residents reacted more and more sensitively to the howling – although they have to tolerate sirens by law.
“Our aim is to warn our population of dangers as much as possible around the clock,” emphasized the Ministry of the Interior on request. This includes the “rebuilding of a close-knit siren network”. The inventory estimate of 11,000 to 12,000 sirens in municipalities also includes fire brigade sirens, which are sometimes used to alert emergency services or as a reserve if the “beeper” alarm does not work.
In addition, there are 2,500 sirens in the vicinity of nuclear facilities; a funding program has been running for this since 2017. In any case, there should be too few sirens overall. In response to a plenary request from SPD MP Martina Fehlner, the interior minister recently spoke of “siren systems that do not exist across the board”.
On the nationwide warning day, it remained dangerously quiet
When sirens were often silent on the nationwide “Warning Day” in 2020, the topic was already on the agenda. There are currently two federal programs; the more recent one is still open to topping up by the federal states; In view of the planned doubling, it will be a question of financing anyway. The State Fire Brigade Association (LFV) welcomes Herrmann’s initiative.
“Sirens are certainly useful as an additional alert or warning to the population,” says LFV managing director Uwe Peek. “Especially at night, when you have your cell phone on the charger in another room and don’t get a warning right away.” And also because natural hazards would get “a new dimension”.
SMS notification is currently already being used due to Corona. Entrants automatically receive an SMS with quarantine rules. A radio cell system would have to be established for the disaster SMS to be introduced nationwide. The Interior Committee of the Bundestag discussed this on Monday. Warning apps are available from private operators and the Federal Office for Civil Protection (Nina app). It would be more like a kind of advertising offensive.
The Ministry of the Interior is aiming at a package of analogue and digital warning devices, if necessary with loudspeaker announcements. The National Association for Homeland Care, however, recalled a traditional variant: the weather ring. In the past, the pastor or sacristan warned people in the event of a storm so that they could come out of the field and bring their belongings to safety.
With this striking bell, “the most penetrating cell phone alarm can hardly keep up”.