BERLIN — Warning messages sounded on cellphones and alarms blared throughout Germany as a part of a nationwide check of the emergency alert system Thursday, however in Berlin the sirens stayed quiet.
The newest “warning day” was carried out after an embarrassing flop in 2020, when the nation held its first such check in 30 years and lots of civil protection sirens round Germany did not go off.
It turned out that many sirens have been eliminated after the top of the Chilly Warfare – one thing recognized by native authorities. In different places, the system simply didn’t work. The pinnacle of Germany’s Federal Workplace of Civil Safety and Catastrophe Help, which was accountable for organizing the check alerts, was fired.
Preliminary stories appeared to point that many extra sirens went off Thursday than in 2020. Within the German capital, nevertheless, the cellphone alerts went by means of however the public alarms once more didn’t wail.
Regardless that the sirens didn’t echo in Berlin, German Inside Minister Nancy Faeser stated the primary evaluations confirmed the 11 a.m. check was “a whole success.”
“Our warning programs handed the key stress check,” the minister stated in an announcement, including that “our mixture of warning programs reaches virtually everybody in Germany.”
The failed check in 2020 was thought of a nationwide embarrassment in a rustic that was recognized for its effectivity. Within the final three years, most warning programs have been repaired or modernized.
Because the sirens echoed in lots of locations. cellphones shrieked and lit up with push alerts saying “nationwide alert day for Germany — there’s not hazard.”
Radio packages, TV reveals and web sites carried data knowledgeable concerning the check, which was supposed to organize folks so they might know what to do in case of precise emergencies comparable to extreme flooding, fires or conflict.
Berlin authorities eliminated all the metropolis’s air raid sirens within the Nineties. After the 2020 “warning day,” the town was supposed to put in 400 new sirens.
Solely round 100 sirens have been put up thus far, and even these couldn’t sound the alarm Thursday as a result of they weren’t able to be switched on, German public broadcaster RBB and others media shops stated.
At the moment, there are about 38,000 sirens within the nation, German information company dpa reported, however there are plans to extend the quantity.