A new app from NL-alert also warns people near the German border in emergency situations. Because residents of the border area are sometimes connected to a German transmission tower, reports are not always received.
In January, the Ministry of Justice and Security will start a campaign to draw attention to the NL-Alert app.
NL-Alert is the government’s alarm tool that provides information in emergency situations, such as major fires or extreme weather. Emergency notifications are received on mobile phones. From now on, this is also possible with the app, which can be downloaded on iPhones and Android phones.
Users of the app can be warned twice: via the regular emergency notification and the app. The NL-Alerts can be found in the app for seven days.
The government believes that NL-Alert should be clear to everyone. The app is therefore specially aimed at people with hearing or visual impairments. “If you are visually impaired, you can zoom in on the app, increase the contrast or view the app in dark mode. The app also supports the text-to-speech function on your mobile phone,” the ministry reports.
People who are deaf or hard of hearing can use the setting of light flashes when receiving a notification via the app.