Halle (dpa/sa) - Saxony-Anhalt is expanding its warning system for the population. Since the previous year, the cities and municipalities have submitted around 380 applications for the purchase or retrofitting of sirens to the state administration office. Of these, almost 190 systems are under construction or have already been installed, the authority announced on Monday in Halle. There are currently around 2,000 sirens in Saxony-Anhalt. Of these, 852 have to be converted. A survey of municipalities has also shown that an additional 500 new sirens are to be procured. The background is that sirens have become outdated or no longer available over the years due to lack of use.
In Germany, the population is to be tested on December 8th via sirens as well as digitally via app and various warning systems via the media. In 2020, the warning day revealed gaps in alerting the population. The reconstruction of the siren network was pushed nationwide after the flood disasters in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia as well as in parts of Saxony and Bavaria.
The municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt have already made good progress in expanding the warning systems, said the President of the State Administration Office, Thomas Pleye. "Nevertheless, we still have some work to do here," he said. Sirens are particularly useful where as many people as possible have to be warned quickly on site in an emergency. The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance is currently financing a special funding program for sirens with around 90 million euros.
