Status: 07/19/2022 12:50 p.m
At the latest after the flood in the southwest a year ago, civil protection took on a new urgency. Since then, warning systems have been expanded and modernized. They are to be tested nationwide on December 8th.
Warning systems for civil protection are to be tested throughout Germany on December 8th. At 11 a.m., a warning should be given on various channels in order to check and coordinate the systems.
Among other things, the highest warning level is to be sent to all mobile phones in order to test the so-called cell broadcast, which is to be used regularly for public warnings from February 2023. “We have to test new systems in order to be able to use them later,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
“While people can use the test phase to familiarize themselves with the new warning channel, we will continue to use the feedback and live conclusions to coordinate the interfaces involved as best we can,” explained Ralph Tiesler, President of the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK).
Cell broadcast alerts to all cell phones
With the cell broadcast system, all mobile phone users who are in the area of a radio cell at a certain time receive a message that looks like an SMS. Unlike the warning apps Nina and Katwarn, this also reaches people who do not use a smartphone. Other warning channels are also to be tested, including the warning apps, scoreboards, sirens and radio and television.
New protection concept announced after the 2021 flood
As a result of the flood disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia a year ago, in which around 190 people died, the federal government announced a new civil protection program. According to Minister Faeser, the strategy follows four guidelines: It is about being better prepared, being able to warn earlier, acting more efficiently in the event of a crisis and tackling the reconstruction together after the crises.
First warning day was “failed”
Actually, there should be a test alarm every year on the second Thursday in September. But on the first day of warning on September 10, 2020, something went wrong. Among other things, the message from the warning apps Nina and Katwarn only arrived on the smartphones a good half hour late. If it had actually been an emergency, many citizens would not have noticed. The Federal Ministry of the Interior had therefore described the test alarm as “failed”.
The next warning day in autumn 2021 was canceled because the BBK should first set up a “comprehensive test landscape”, as it was called. Finally, this year’s warning day was postponed to December in order to be able to test the cell broadcast.