In Germany, early warning systems need to be improved and hazards communicated more clearly. This is the conclusion of a working group at the University of Potsdam. Immediately after the flood disaster in the summer of 2021, the working group asked those affected online about how they had been warned about the flood.
This showed that 35 percent of respondents from North Rhine-Westphalia and 29 percent of respondents from Rhineland-Palatinate had received no warning at all. However, even those who had been warned did not expect such a scale of flooding (85 percent).
The Geography and Natural Hazards Research Group, headed by Professor Annegret Thieken of the University of Potsdam, Institute of Environmental Sciences and Geography, also criticizes the lack of recommendations from the media or official bodies. For example, a fact sheet shows that only 5 percent of respondents from the Ahrweiler district, which was particularly hard hit, can remember being informed about the life-threatening situation.
Source and further information: uni-potsdam.de/idw-online.de
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