Cologne: Billboards warn of disasters from now on
Cologne –
Anyone walking through Schildergasse, Breite Straße or Neumarkt WILL FORTH BEEN warned of catastrophes or other dangers on digital advertising walls. Where else you can see advertisements for cell phones, cars or hair shampoos, in the event of an alarm there should now be warnings about storms, fires or chemical accidents.
21 of these “city information systems” from the Wall company are displayed with the information at the aforementioned locations. “Due to climate change, we will often have to deal with scenarios such as heavy rain and flooding,” said city director Andrea Blome. The trial warning, which was shown on the screens on Monday as a test, is still quite inconspicuous in its white. In the long term, however, warnings should be visible in warning colors in the event of a disaster.
The warnings are triggered in the control center of the fire brigade, including the sirens and the Nina warning app. Fire brigade chief Christian Miller pointed out, among other things, the dense chemical industry network that surrounds Cologne and thus has a direct impact on the city and the people here in the event of an accident, as happened in the chemical accident in Leverkusen in the summer.
“The right behavior in an emergency often makes the difference between life and death,” said Miller. The billboards, which also sound the all clear as soon as the danger is over, would be “seen by tens of thousands every day,” said Blome.
Systems only in downtown Cologne
So far, the effect of the warnings is not too great, as the screens are only in the city center. Direct residents of the chemical works in Worringen or Godorf, for example, could at least not be informed about this in an emergency.
The technical effort to create an interface between the fire brigade and the information systems that are now connected was already high, said Miller. In the long term, however, significantly more should be added in the entire city area. The city is already putting warning messages on the 450 similar systems at KVB stops.
In the Cologne area, after the flood disaster in mid-July, there was massive criticism of the authorities for inadequate disaster warnings.