By Johannes Malinowski
How well does our civil protection work in an emergency? In any case, better precautions must be taken and communication optimized.
Berlin should get a state office for civil protection. This is urgently needed, so far up to 36 authorities have had to communicate with each other in an emergency. A look at the last few years:
► 2007, hurricane Kyrill. The Senate recognizes the catastrophe late. 1001 firefighting missions, a two-ton steel girder falls from the main station from a height of 40 meters.
Storm Kyrill passed our region on January 18th and 19th, 2007. In Berlin, a two-ton steel girder fell from the main station from a height of 40 meters Photo: AP
► 2016, terrorist attack on Breitscheidplatz. Assassin Anis Amri drove through the Christmas market in a truck, killing 13 people. Many people find out about the death of a loved one late. The procedure for identifying corpses is too complicated.
► 2019, Blackout in Koepenick. 34,000 Berliners are without electricity for 30 hours, fire stations have no emergency generators. DRK board member Hardy Häusler at the time: “Berlin has been saving disaster control for years.”
Total darkness in Köpenick on February 20, 2019. 34,000 people were without electricity for more than a day Photo: Spreepicture
► 2022, fire at the Grunewald blast site: it burns for days, the cause is unclear. It is possible that explosive material self-ignited.
“In order to be well prepared for a disaster, a practiced and constant exchange at all levels with the authorities of the city of Berlin is very important,” says a spokeswoman for the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW). You have that.
But: Although civil protection is a state matter, it is largely carried out on a voluntary basis by aid organizations. And they have been complaining about a lack of financial support for a long time.