Status: 07/19/2021 11:40 a.m.
We no longer expect disasters of this magnitude as we do now with floods, says disaster researcher Martin Voss. He warns against simple accusations – and sees the wave of solidarity as the greatest treasure.
tagesschau.de: Has civil protection failed in Germany?
Martin Voss: In an international comparison, Germany is actually quite well positioned when it comes to disaster control. But the international comparison is of little use when the dangers fundamentally change. Rather, we need to be well adapted and prepared for these changing dangers – and we are clearly not.
To person
Martin Voss is head of the Disaster Research Center Berlin (KFS) at the Free University of Berlin. The social scientist mainly deals with risk, crisis and disaster research. Against the background of the corona pandemic, he was co-author of a study on the lessons of the pandemic for civil protection in Germany.
tagesschau.de: Why are we so badly prepared?
Voss: It’s a fundamental problem. We are well prepared for dangers that we know from the past – including extreme weather. But only to the same extent and format as we used to know them. And based on a society as it used to be. Today, however, a lot is different.
tagesschau.de: Concrete?
Voss: Today the landscape is densely built up, the areas are sealed, undermined. We have fundamentally redesigned the natural space around us. Then society changed extremely. Lots of property, lots of luxury that can be damaged accordingly. Material vulnerability has become much higher. In addition, there is the individual concern: We have become older, more sensitive and at the same time have higher demands on others, such as the state. In short: we are only very modestly prepared – if at all.
tagesschau.de: So we’re not up to date?
Voss: Especially when it comes to dealing with more complex disasters. A prolonged power outage, a cyber attack or a global crash on the financial markets can shatter our society. And many things can come together as we are currently experiencing. Just because we are currently in a pandemic does the weather and climate change not stop.
tagesschau.de: The pictures from the flood areas make you stunned. Most people seem surprised by the extent of the devastation in the middle of Germany.
Voss: Yes, we no longer expect such catastrophes here because we are so high-tech and so wealthy. And if something like this does happen, at least someone must be to blame.
tagesschau.de: How can we prepare for such disasters?
Voss: We have to start thinking preventively. So: How do we actually live and what are the risks of this way of life? This has to do with how we design our landscape, how we plan cities, what our consumer behavior looks like. We have to address this vulnerability, as difficult as it is. The problem is complex, but we must not shut ourselves off further. Simple technical answers are no longer enough, such as raising the dike a little more.
Clean-up work continues in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia
Tim Diekmann, SWR, daily topics 10:00 p.m., July 18, 2021
tagesschau.de: Do we need to learn how to deal with disasters?
Voss: Yes, we have to learn again. Because we have forgotten it over the centuries. In the past, people were aware of their vulnerability differently than German society in 2021. In the past, people had always prepared themselves for the fact that one was mortal, that something could happen at any moment, that nature was not under control.
tagesschau.de: But as a society we cannot go back to the 18th century …
Voss: Of course not. But our risk behavior comes with a price – and we have to weigh that up differently.
“We no longer expect such catastrophes here here,” says Martin Voss.
Image: dpa
tagesschau.de: So you can’t say: The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance has failed in this specific case?
Voss: I am not releasing anyone from responsibility here. It’s society as a whole, and of course the Civil Protection Office is one of them. But then you have to equip the authority accordingly – with financial means and social recognition.
tagesschau.de: What do you mean by that?
Voss: There has to be a demand for a strong authority that can bring together and pass on information, that can moderate and shape a dialogue with society so that an awareness of the dangers can be generated at all – only if you create this equipment and demand can you go after it also say: Here the civil protection office has failed.
“Solidarity carries us through the crisis”
tagesschau.de: When you say we have to relearn how to deal with disasters, at the same time we see this wave of solidarity and helpfulness. These are extremely positive signs that this society stands together in great need …
Voss: In any case. This solidarity, this huge social commitment is a resource that we have to look out for, like our greatest treasure. We mustn’t lose that. Because in the end it will carry us through the crisis, the catastrophe. That works well in Germany, but it is a delicate commodity that can also be gambled away.
tagesschau.de: What lessons must we learn from this disaster?
Voss: I recently tried a list for Lessons from the pandemic to create. It has become a very long list. Of course, it also includes other scenarios. In short: We need a research center for resilience and the protection of the population, independent and non-political, where we can bring together and deepen all information and decision-making bases. Because it is not the case that individual knowledge is not available. We know a lot about extreme weather, climate events and natural hazards, but integrating all of this and thinking in terms of its interplay brings us to the level of the late 19th century.
The interview was conducted by Wenke Börnsen,
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