Hanover/Bremen. If you hear flashing, shrilling or glowing lights this Thursday at 11 a.m., there is no reason to be alarmed: a test alarm will be triggered on the nationwide warning day – including in Lower Saxony and Bremen.
Sirens will be wailing and cell phones will be ringing loudly: Lower Saxony and Bremen will also be rehearsing emergency situations this Thursday on the nationwide warning day. The test alarm, announced for around 11 a.m., will be triggered by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) in Bonn.
Citizens will then receive a warning message on their mobile phones via the Cell Broadcast System. The warning will then also be disseminated via radio and television stations, on city information boards and via mobile phone warning apps. Municipalities can also use additional warning devices such as loudspeaker vans and sirens.
In Lower Saxony, the warning day is a first major practical test for many sirens, as several districts and cities have announced. In many places, old sirens have recently been upgraded or new, modern sirens installed. The state capital of Hanover, for example, wants to test its newly installed siren network for the first time on the warning day. 80 sirens are ready for this. With the nationwide warning day, the BBK, which reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, wants to find out how many people a warning of dangers would reach in an emergency.
