513 sirens will sound in Salzburg on Saturday
The annual siren rehearsal takes place throughout Austria on Saturday. A total of 513 sirens are said to wail in the state of Salzburg. The rehearsal takes place between 12 noon and 12.45 p.m.
In the previous year, the test went – almost – perfectly: Only one of the 502 activated sirens did not work.
Markus Kurcz, Head of the Security and Disaster Control Unit at the State of Salzburg, says: “The annual siren test is an important part of our current security precautions for two reasons:.”
Importance of civil defense signals
And the measures mentioned by Markus Kurcz are as follows:
- Siren test – continuous tone lasting 15 seconds
- Warning – three minutes of unchanged continuous tone
- Alarm – howling sound that rises and falls for one minute
- All-clear – one minute unchanged continuous tone
More than three quarters of the people of Salzburg are within earshot
The majority of the population, namely 78 percent, can be reached with the 513 sirens in the state. That’s more than three quarters. Most of them, namely 143, are in Flachgau. 79 percent of the population is reached here. In Pinzgau there are 122 (78 percent), in Pongau 98 (77 percent), in Tennengau 62 (78 percent), in Lungau 57 (77 percent) and in the city of Salzburg 31 (78 percent).