International podcast importing ideas: what protects in the event of a disaster?

Working advance warning systems, good building concepts and emergency kits for citizens: idea importthe podcast of daily News, looks abroad for ideas and possible role models for better civil protection.

It was not just the flooding on the Ahr last year that revealed the weaknesses in civil protection. The nationwide warning day 2020 already showed the major deficits in civil protection and disaster control: sirens did not wail – often because they were defective or had even been removed. The warning apps Katwarn and Nina did not send any warning messages.

Germany should actually be in an excellent position to do this. Because there is a kind of rule of thumb to predict how severely a natural disaster will affect the population: the poorer a country is, the more severely the population will suffer. Such extreme weather and natural events hit countries of the so-called Global South particularly hard. But there is one exception: Bangladesh. The new episode of “Import of Ideas” – the international podcast of the daily News.

Functioning reporting chains save lives

Although Bangladesh is a high-risk area of ​​extreme weather, the country has managed to reduce the death toll from cyclones by a factor of 100. Essential prerequisites for success: functioning reporting chains. In the event of a disaster, an entire network is activated. In addition to official committees, volunteers also become active in emergencies, going from place to place and warning. In addition, Bangladesh uses cell broadcasting – a service in which warning SMS are sent to all mobile phones within a radio cell.

This technique is also used in the USA. But in the country, where almost any imaginable natural disaster can occur, the population is also well prepared for emergencies: the Californians have equipped themselves with so-called earthquake kits, which are intended to ensure survival after a disaster. At the annual “ShakeOut Day”, the entire population also trains in how to behave in the event of an earthquake.

Of the ARD correspondents Peter Hornung and Katharina Wilhelm describe the measures taken by Bangladesh and California to protect the population from natural disasters. The question always arises: What can Germany learn from these ideas?

Search for ideas in the tagesschau podcast

For many questions that arise again and again in everyday life, there are guaranteed to be good ideas, possible role models and solutions somewhere in the world: How better to deal with sharply rising energy prices? What to do to eat healthier? Why do people in other countries sometimes live longer?

The foreign podcast daily News searches and finds them – together with the correspondents in the 30 foreign studios of the ARD. idea import wants to look beyond the proverbial box and provide fresh ideas for new input in political and social debates.

idea import appears every second Friday. You can listen to the podcast at any time at home or on the go on your smartphone – on our website, in the ARD audio library and on numerous other podcast platforms.