Many injured after the tornado in Paderborn: Kachelmann with a warning for Germany
Created: 05/25/2022, 12:06 p.m
By: Markus Hofstetter
Tornadoes only have a warning time of a few minutes.
According to Jörg Kachelmann, warning mechanisms like those in the USA would have to be established in Germany in order to prevent deaths.
Paderborn - The tornado that cut a path of destruction through Paderborn on Friday (May 20) and caused many injuries shows that Germany is not immune to such weather phenomena.
But according to Jörg Kachelmann, the country is not prepared for this.
"The Paderborn tornado wasn't even particularly strong, but the number of victims is incredibly high.
That shows: Germany is not prepared," said the weather expert in an interview with
Spiegel.de
.
Kachelmann said there were explicit warnings before the tornado, but these were lost in the general news flow.
He cites the USA as a role model, where the awareness is completely different.
"People would constantly look up at the sky just to save their lives."
Weather expert Kachelmann on tornadoes: Warning mechanisms should be established in Germany
The problem with tornadoes in particular is that their formation cannot be precisely predicted.
"On Friday afternoon, just under half an hour before the tornado passed through Paderborn, a strongly rotating storm cloud was seen in the region - moving in the direction of Paderborn," says Kachelmann.
From then on the clock is ticking, the usual warning time of 15 to 30 minutes is enough to save his life.
Jörg Kachelmann sees Germany poorly prepared for tornadoes (archive photo) © STAR-MEDIA/imago
In the USA, according to Kachelmann, the sirens would have been activated in the affected areas and live streams would have been switched to all media at the same time.
"We have to establish that in Germany as well, otherwise it will be very dangerous."
Kachelmann also says that the probability of seeing a tornado in Germany is low.
If someone like that went through Hamburg or Berlin, there would be maybe a thousand deaths.
That shouldn't happen, which is why you have to prepare better.
Federal Environment Agency: It is not possible to predict the future number and strength of tornadoes
In its 2020 report “Climate Change and Plant Safety: Recommendations from the UN/OECD Natech Project”, the Federal Environment Agency writes that, according to the German Weather Service (DWD), 30 to 60 tornadoes are registered in Germany every year.
For Europe, their number is estimated at 500 to 600 per year.
In Germany, however, an increase in the number or strength of tornadoes in recent years cannot be confirmed with certainty.
also read
Severe weather in Germany: three tornadoes, one fatality - on Monday, "Finja" could be continued
Monkeypox in Germany: Lauterbach announces isolation – countries “take the situation seriously”
According to the Federal Environment Agency, there are only indirect conclusions.
If one assumes an increase in hot days and nights and an increase in air humidity near the ground as a result of global warming, the probability of tornado formation increases.
However, if there are longer dry periods, the probability of tornadoes occurring tends to be reduced.