As on every first Monday of the month, the sirens of the air raid sirens are blaring all over the country at noon today. Because of the war in Ukraine, the security regions only briefly warned via social media that this is a test and that people should not be scared.
They do this on behalf of the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism. The test, which lasts 86 seconds, checks whether the Dutch alarm system is still working properly. The sounding of the sirens is primarily intended to make us aware of its existence. With the war and the fear of the use of nuclear weapons in mind, it will be noticed more than ever.
Hence the warning from the security regions. “That has to do with the situation in Ukraine,” a spokesperson for the IJsselland Security Region told the newspaper The Stentor† “In Ukraine, the air raid siren is now often going off. Then if it goes off here because of our monthly test, it might be associated with danger. We now give extra warnings so that we can just test, because if something does happen, the siren has to work.”
Residents of Dinxperlo in Gelderland were startled by an alarm last Wednesday, bearing in mind the war in Ukraine. It turned out to have nothing to do with that. “No one pressed the button with us,” said the North and East Gelderland Safety Region (VNOG) in the daily newspaper. The Gelderlander† Later that afternoon it turned out to be the siren used to call firefighters to the barracks in the neighboring German village of Suderwick.
NL-Alert
For years there has been discussion in The Hague about the abolition of the 4278 dishes, each of which consists of three white discs one above the other. They date from 1998 and are expected to be ‘on’ in 2025. Worn out. Replacing the whole thing costs millions (estimated minimum cost: 166 million). Besides, aren’t the dishes hopelessly outdated at a time when everyone is carrying advanced telephones?
NL-Alert is the name of the modern alternative, with which the government can now send warning messages to everyone’s mobile phone. “It also immediately includes information about what is going on and what you should do,” Wilfred Nijhof told the Eindhovens Dagblad† He was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and Security to investigate the ancient sirens last year. “When they go off, you don’t know what’s going on. All you know is to keep doors and windows closed and turn on the television.”
In case of acute danger, the regional broadcaster takes on the role of official emergency transmitter. The government then tells what is going on and what danger there is. Only when the transmitter reports that the danger has passed, you can go outside again. But life-threatening situations rarely occur. In many cases, the Warning and Alarm System (WAS), as the siren is officially called, seems too heavy a tool.
Range
Nijhof’s research shows that 8 percent of people are only warned with the sirens, and therefore not yet via NL-Alert. However, this percentage continues to fall. NL-Alert’s warning text messages now reach 90 percent of people aged 12 and older. So why do we still have that old-fashioned siren that is rarely used?
The new cabinet will have to make the decision: dismantle the old sirens by 2025, renew them all or only install them in risk areas, such as heavy industry.
The first national alarm was created around World War II to warn of air raids. Today a major fire or the escape of toxic substances seems to be a more real danger.
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