Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) drew a first positive balance of the nationwide test alarm on Thursday. “All available warning devices could be tested extensively in the wide-ranging test run,” said Herrmann in the afternoon. “Citizens received the warnings in various ways: after an initial overview, the warnings on mobile phones via the warning apps “NINA” and “Katwarn” as well as via the new cell broadcast went largely smoothly.” However, the detailed results would have to be awaited.
The digital warnings would have reached the people within a short time after the Bavaria-wide alarm was triggered at 11.05 a.m. and 10 seconds. There were only occasional slight delays. The users of mobile phones reported that there were no signals about the alarm messages when using warning apps. The siren warning, where these are integrated, also worked well according to the first surveys. “The decisive factor is that we can build on a diverse mix of warning devices from sirens, radio announcements, digital city information boards, warning apps and the new cell broadcast technology so that we can reach as many people as possible quickly in an emergency,” said Herrmann.
For the first time, the warnings on digital city information boards were triggered centrally throughout Bavaria. “With the warnings on information boards, for example at train stations, on public transport and in city centers, we can reach even more people in dangerous situations and, above all, warn them visually.”
At the beginning of December there had already been a nationwide test alarm of this kind. The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) described the warning day as a success. However, the warning messages did not arrive on all smartphones – which, according to BBK information at the time, had various reasons. At the time, Herrmann had explained that unfortunately not everything had gone smoothly everywhere and that there had been some server failures and overloads. Overall, it definitely worked better than on a warning day two years earlier.