Disaster control in Germany is complicated. If it comes to extreme rainfall with floods and floods, as most recently in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, but also in Bavaria and Saxony, then in the best case one wheel engages another. Professional helpers and an estimated 1.8 million volunteers develop a force that can offer those affected protection and help. But there has also been criticism for years. There is talk of a confusion of competence, one position does not know what the other is planning and doing. Especially in major emergencies.
The federal states are initially responsible, where the supervisory authorities are located. The practical preparation and assessment of the situation is incumbent on the districts and urban districts. When disaster threatens somewhere in Germany, the local district administrator or the mayor of an independent city proclaims a disaster. Last happened in the districts of Berchtesgaden, Vulkaneifel, Rhein-Erft-Kreis or Hof. These should also warn the population with announcements or sirens. In addition, warning messages are sent via the federal government’s Nina smartphone apps or the Fraunhofer Institute’s Katwarn app. Local media must warn via radio and television.
The district and mayor’s offices then fall back on their deployment plans that they have drawn up beforehand. They instruct the police, fire brigade and ambulance service. In addition, the Johanniter, Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund and Maltese are on alert.
The state can request help from the federal government, for example from the technical relief organization
In the event of storms, snow chaos, floods or forest fires that affect several districts, the state’s interior ministry takes over the coordination. This can request help from the federal government, to which the technical relief organization is subordinate. Since 2001 there has been a “Disaster Relief Mechanism” of the European Union, which promises mutual aid. It was activated last week, as was the “military disaster alarm” from the Federal Ministry of Defense. This allowed the armed forces on site to decide on their own action and did not have to wait for permits. In the city of Hagen, for example, this is said to have meant that cut-off districts were quickly accessible again.
Otherwise the federal government has no competence in disaster control. The federal government is responsible for civil protection in times of war, which since the end of the Cold War has led to sirens being dismantled and material stores being closed. It has been dawning on politics for some time that this calculation does not work out; after the Elbe flood in 2002, she therefore founded the Federal Office for Population and Disaster Protection (BBK). But it was not until June 2020 that the federal and state governments were able to agree on the establishment of a “competence center”.
BBK President Armin Schuster wants to draft a “national resilience strategy”, that is, to make the country resilient to disasters. The aim is to find out where there are still sirens and where they are missing. He complains that there is a “massive need for investment” and he must also hope that the federal states will support him. As long as that doesn’t happen, he has two main tips for the population in the event of tidal waves: If the water comes, cellars should be avoided and the electricity should be switched off.