Was civil protection adequately prepared?
Could the population have been warned better?
In the middle of the election campaign, the floods were followed by a debate on civil protection and climate policy.
Berlin - While the situation in the flood areas calms down, the political debate about the consequences for disaster and climate protection is picking up speed.
The Chancellor candidate of the Greens, Annalena Baerbock, spoke out in favor of the federal government having a greater coordinating role in supra-regional disasters such as floods or forest fires.
“The second point is that we need climate adaptation measures,” she said in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”.
CSU boss Markus Söder also called for more efforts in the program: "We need a climate jolt in Germany." There is also criticism of civil protection from the FDP, for example.
Demand for an instance that bundles everything
In “Spiegel”, Baerbock said: “Help only works if everything interlocks. This requires an authority that bundles all forces, which as quickly as possible pulls together helicopters or special equipment from all over Germany or neighboring EU countries. ”She spoke of faster coordination of the various levels and actors. This applies in particular to events that affect several federal states or that can no longer be dealt with by the regional emergency services. "For this purpose, the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief must be equipped with a central office function, as we know it from the Federal Criminal Police Office in police work."
In the ARD, the Green Chancellor candidate said that warning chains also had to be improved.
And cities have to be rebuilt, rivers have to be given more space.
"This is not an either-or between climate protection, climate adaptation and climate protection, but a triad that is actually agreed in the same way in all climate protection treaties worldwide."
Warnings not communicated in a timely manner?
FDP parliamentary group vice-chairman Michael Theurer sees serious failures in civil protection.
"The timely warnings of the meteorologists have not been adequately communicated to the citizens either by the authorities or by public service broadcasters," he told the German press agency.
“It presents the picture of a significant system failure, for which the Federal Minister of the Interior Seehofer bears direct personal responsibility.” Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) also called on Sunday in the “Bild live” political talk “The right questions” to clarify whether the disaster control is sufficient worked.
It is not about pointing the blame.
"Purely digital warnings not the right way"
The President of the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief, Armin Schuster, said on Deutschlandfunk that they are currently in the phase of “Rescuing, recovering, offering shelter, etc.”. I even practically forbade my employees to criticize maneuvers. We're helping now. ”A mix of warning devices is required, and purely digital warnings are not the way to go. “And that's why we want the good old siren back.” With a funding program amounting to 90 million euros, sirens are to be reinstalled “in the right places” together with the federal states. “The 90 million will not be enough for this.” It won't be quick. "This is a project for several years."
The Bavarian Prime Minister Söder announced a government statement for Wednesday. It will not only be about defining goals, but also backing them financially with a climate program, he said in the "Morgenmagazin". Climate protection is not an ideological question, but a question of reason and ethics. It is about protecting the homeland more strongly and considering which world one wants to hand over to children and grandchildren. dpa
