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WEATHER

Germany knew its disaster warning system wasn’t good enough – why wasn’t it improved?

Germany announced this week that it would reform its disaster warning system after deadly flooding. But why didn't this happen sooner?

Germany knew its disaster warning system wasn't good enough - why wasn't it improved?
The devastated community in Mayschoß, Rhineland-Palatinate, after the floods. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Thomas Frey

In September 2020, Germany held it’s first ‘warning day’ aimed at raising awareness about how aimed at test out Germany’s warning systems and preparing the public for what could happen in the event of an emergency, like flooding, fires or other extreme danger.

“When the sirens start wailing and your radio broadcast is interrupted on September 10th, don’t be scared,” said deputy government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer at the time. “This is a practice exercise.”

But it was branded a failure when sirens did not go off in many places across the country – because they’d been dismantled after the end of the Cold War – and there were delays in the message getting through on Germany’s warning smartphone apps Nina and KatWarn.

“Insights have been gained and will be taken into account in the further development of the warning system,” said the Interior Ministry at the time.

This is important now as Germany reckons with the deaths of at least 180 people, with dozens still missing after catastrophic flooding in western regions. It appeared to show just how ill-prepared the country is for extreme situations.

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Although the head of the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) Armin Schuster said Germany’s alarm infrastructure worked as planned during the flooding that hit the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia, saying that notifications were sent out via warning apps, the country’s disaster response is under the spotlight.

“The warnings did not reach the population in many cases,” deputy chairman of the Free Democrats (FDP), Michael Theurer told The Local.

“The communication problems in German civil protection are well known; the 2020 warning day was a fiasco. Since then, far too little has happened, so Warning Day 2021 was cancelled as a precaution to prevent another embarrassment.”

The warning app on the 2020 ‘Warntag’. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Robert Michael

Many have asked why Germany hasn’t yet introduced a cell broadcast warning system, which would see all residents receive a mobile phone text alert in the event of disaster situations.

Earlier this week federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Germany will issue mobile phone alerts in future although there is no timeline for when this will happen.

READ ALSO: Germany to warn of future floods with text alerts

What’s going on with Germany’s public warning system?

Max Mehl of the association, Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), analysed Germany’s warning system along with experts in civil protection and mobile networking after the ‘Warntag” flop.

They wanted to figure out why the apps failed, and what a more “resilient and open system” can look like.

“Most prominently we found that the system architecture was not appropriate for the actual task,” he told The Local. “The warning day last year was quite realistic in this regard: a number of authorities issue warnings to parts of the population. However, everything goes via a central system and that was overloaded.”

Mehl said this caused the breakdown in issuing alerts through the app on the ‘warning day’.

Government spokeswoman Martina Fietz last week said the country’s weather warning system and mobile phone apps had “worked” but admitted that “our experiences with this disaster show that we need to do more and better”.

It’s unclear how many people received warnings during the recent flood catastrophe.

However, Mehl believes Germany should have already been using the cell broadcast system.

“Unlike today’s unicast (one to one) system it is broadcast, so it is one to many. It sends messages to all mobile users in a given region via SMS, so no app has to be installed, and there is no requirement on mobile internet which can easily be broken or overloaded in emergency situations.

“Also, it does not require state authorities to know the mobile number. One does not even have to have a German phone number; as long as a cell tower is in reach, the message can be received.”

A number of countries use the mobile phone alert system, including the US, Netherlands, Italy, Greece, or Romania.

Mehl said that cell broadcasts will also be mandatory via the EU-Alert system that has to be implemented in all EU member states from June 2022.

Why doesn’t Germany have mass warning messages already?

Politicians, including BBK’s Armin Schuster have said that costs and data protection concerns of the broadcast system are important to consider.

Experts believe it could cost around €10 million for each network operator as well as operating costs.

On July 20th, federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer told Bild that he was in favour of SMS alerts but the “political will has been lacking in some places”, citing data protection issues.

“Not everyone has always been enthusiastic about the idea in recent months,” Seehofer said during a special crisis meeting on disaster systems in parliament on Monday. “But I’ve decided that we’re going to do it… There is no reasonable argument against it.”

Horst Seehofer at the meeting on Monday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jörg Carstensen

Yet the data protection argument doesn’t appear to hold up – unlike text messages, “it is not a targeted communication from a sender to a recipient, so it doesn’t require operators to have individual phone numbers,” said German news magazine Spiegel. “Messages can be tailored to the specific area, and there are no problems with privacy protection.”

“It is incomprehensible to me that this system has not been introduced long ago,” Michael Theurer told The Local. “The FDP has been calling for it for years.”

Max Mehl said the exact reasons why Germany had decided against the cell broadcast mobile warning system were unclear.

“But we know that this feature is not a requirement for mobile network providers in Germany. Since it is not a legal requirement for them, they deactivated the feature to save costs,” he said.

Could it have potentially saved lives during the recent flooding?

“Cell broadcasts would certainly have been able to inform more people in advance,” said Mehl. “However, I cannot and do not want to evaluate whether this would have saved lives.”

How can Germany warn better?

Although Mehl said there are benefits to an app-based warning system – such as users being able to request specific information – he said he was in favour of text alerts, and using apps as a supplement.

“My personal take is that mobile cell broadcasts are one of the most effective ways to reach a lot of people in emergencies: a vast majority of people have a mobile phone at hand and will often look at it – unlike warnings via optional apps, radio or TV,” he said. “However these alternatives can provide useful additional information.”

A temporary bridge is erected in flood-hit Bad Neuenahr. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Thomas Frey

Meanwhile, the BBK’s Armin Schuster called for sirens to be reinstated in more areas.

Mehl said sirens “may work as well, but fail to give information about the actual emergency that happens: the actions citizens have to take in case of a flood compared to a nuclear disaster are very different for example.”

“Also, we cannot put sirens everywhere, for example in rural regions, but network connectivity coverage is already much better.”

Theurer said the need for action is “manifold”.

“It’s about better communication between the authorities, strengthening volunteerism or upgrading the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance,” he said.

“Above all, however, we need more assistance to enable people to help themselves more. For example, the BBK has published a guidebook on emergency preparedness and the right way to act in emergency situations. Why isn’t it sent to all households?”

Local or federal responsibility?

The other topic under the microscope is – who is responsible for coordinating the disaster response?

Germany’s crisis management begins at the local level, with the central government’s Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) only stepping in when that fails. The BBK needs the community, district or state to first declare a state of emergency.

The question is did mayors and district councils react in time to the warnings from the experts, and get those messages to people?

In March, Seehofer presented a plan for reforming disaster management. It said that joint expert centres of the federal and state governments are to be established, signalling that there will be more collaborative work in future.

But after the flooding happened, Seehofer spoke out against the federal government coordinating in the event of a crisis.

“It would be completely inconceivable for such a catastrophe to be managed centrally from any one place,” said Seehofer. “You need local knowledge.”

The Local contacted the Federal Interior Ministry to answer some questions but they did not get back to us.

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PROPERTY

Why it’s hard to find an apartment with air conditioning in Germany

When temperatures start to get up to 30C or more in Germany, a familiar debate begins. It often starts with a simple question, asked by a new arrival to the country: “Why don’t German homes have air conditioning?”

Why it's hard to find an apartment with air conditioning in Germany

The tendency to avoid air conditioning (A/C) is not uniquely a German trend. Europeans tend to use A/C less than residents in the US, and some countries in Asia.

But as temperatures have crept slowly upwards due to climate change, and the number of hot days has increased, Europe has seen an increase in demand for air conditioning. Across the continent A/C use has more than doubled since 1990.

But A/C is used much more commonly in countries that see higher temperatures like Spain, Italy or France, whereas it is still uncommon in homes in Germany.

So why does Germany tend to lack air conditioning, and why aren’t more Germans interested in installing it?

It’s not a ‘hot’ country

Ask a German why air conditioning is so rare in the country, and you’ll probably hear some version of “Well Germany is not such a hot country.” Which may be true generally, but is a less than convincing explanation if you hear it on a sunny summer day when it’s 35C outside.

But it is worth keeping in mind that while Germany does have warm summers, often with at least a couple heat waves, super hot days are few compared to warmer countries, like those in southern Europe. 

Given Germany’s weather can really only be described as hot for a few weeks out of each year, and considering the costs of installing and running air conditioning, most Germans figure it’s not worth it.

attic with sliding window

A sliding attic window is designed to help tenants cool off, but it won’t help to open windows during the hottest part of the day. Photo: pa/obs LiDEKO | LiDEKO

This isn’t only reserved for homes, but extends to plenty of public spaces including office and government buildings, and to some public transportation as well. 

In fact, schools and workplaces do occasionally call it quits during hot weather spells in an event called hitzefrei.

READ ALSO: Ditching AC for ‘Hitzefrei’ – Taking on the German summer as a Californian

Air conditioning is energy intensive and expensive

The other side of the argument against air conditioning is that both installation and operating costs can be expensive. Air conditioning tends to be energy inefficient, so using it can significantly increase your utility bill.

From an environmental point of view, all the energy used for air conditioning, if Germany was to start installing A/C at scale, would add to the country’s energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions – both of which Germany is already struggling to cut down year after year as part of its climate goals.

It is an ironic feature of traditional air conditioning that it creates a negative feedback loop: More people rely on air conditioning to stay cool as weather warms, but weather continues warming in part due to emissions from air conditioning.

That said there are cases where access to air conditioning can save lives. In particular elderly people and those with health-risks are prone to heat sensitivity. So while it’s probably good that not every house in Germany has A/C, it’s important that hospitals and some other buildings in a given city do.

READ ALSO: How German cities are adapting to rising temperatures

‘Cold air makes you sick’

Along with the reasonable (if debatable) reasons for the lack of A/C in Germany, there are also cultural factors.

On the social media website Reddit, a user posted the question, “Will more places in Germany start using air conditioning?”

One of the top comments read, “Don’t you know cold air makes you sick….says Oma (the German word for grandma). 

While that comment comes off a bit tongue in cheek, it touches on a real and deeply-ingrained belief that persists among parts of the German population: That exposure to cold, or even maybe a cool breeze, is bad for your health. This includes a draft in your house, called a Durchzug in German.

For this reason, the German Red Cross felt compelled to debunk the Durchzug health myth in a hot weather warning they issued in 2019.

a heat pump is installed

An employee inspects a heat pump in front of a newly built residential building. Heat pumps are also effective for cooling. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Bernd Weißbrod

What can you do about the heat?

Regardless of where you stand on the air conditioning debate, if you don’t have a personal A/C unit at home presently, the best way to endure the hottest days of summer may be to take a few tips from the locals.

During my first summer in Germany, I took to leaving the windows open throughout the day, thinking that the occasional warm breeze was the best relief I could hope for at home. But one day my landlord came by and asked me why I was suffering in the heat with the windows open.

He recommended that I instead leave the windows open at night or in the early morning to get some fresh cool air inside, and then keep all the windows closed through the heat of the day. I tried this strategy the next day, and immediately felt that he was right.

Compared to homes in the US, for instance, German homes tend to be very well insulated. This can be equally important in the summer as it means that the interior tends to stay cooler than the outside (as long as you keep it mostly sealed off).

On extremely hot days, you might even keep your shutters down to shade the windows and prevent the sun from shining through.

Of course the effectiveness of the strategy depends on having a home that’s well insulated, including double paned windows and well-sealed doors etc. If you feel that the inside of your house is getting as warm or warmer than the outside, then it’s probably time to open up the windows or go outside and sit in the shade.

Fans are also useful. Best is a ceiling fan designed to rotate counter-clockwise to push air downward, which can maximise wind chill within a home, but floor fans can also help.

Ironically, in the longer term it may actually be heat pumps that help Germany to modernise its cooling infrastructure. 

Heat pumps maximise the efficiency of heating systems by moving warm air around a building, and they can also work with cooling systems. Many heat pump systems on the market today are already built to support both heating and cooling functions, and they are much more energy efficient than classic air condition systems.

READ ALSO: Who can apply for Germany’s new heat pump grants for homes?

Unfortunately for tenants with no heat pump and no A/C, the best you can do for now is take notes of cool places in your city where you can relax in the shade or in the water during the hottest hours or the hottest days.

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