If necessary, Armin Laschet wants to single-handedly introduce the SMS warning via cell broadcasting.
This was announced by the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia on Thursday.
Düsseldorf - North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Armin Laschet wants to draw the first conclusions from the flood disaster in his state.
On Thursday, he called for the population to be warned by SMS for upcoming flood events.
The information "into a radio cell directly in the disaster area" must now be made possible, said Laschet after a meeting of the state cabinet in Düsseldorf.
So-called cell broadcasting should ideally be introduced throughout Germany.
"If it doesn't work nationwide, North Rhine-Westphalia will pave the way for it," announced Laschet.
In addition, sirens are still necessary.
After the storm, there were allegations that people in the affected areas were not warned quickly enough.
Floods in Germany: Laschet wants to introduce SMS warnings in North Rhine-Westphalia
“NINA”, the federal government's warning app, was recently criticized after the floods in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer had
stated internally
according to information from the
picture
that he wanted to introduce the disaster warning via SMS.
Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer even called for public warning messages via SMS.
Discussions with cell phone providers are to take place this week, who are to install the technology in all radio cells of their cell phone networks.
According to the newspaper's report, the costs are estimated at 30 to 40 million euros.
Video: Flood disaster in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate: Can a warning SMS help in the future?
In countries with a high number of natural disasters, such as Japan or the Philippines, the technology has been used for years. The US and Israel also use the system. Germany also had cell broadcasting until the early 2000s, but the process was classified as out of date. The flood disaster had sparked a debate about reintroduction. Chancellor Angela Merkel had expressed herself critically, but announced talks on the subject. (fmü / dpa)