At exactly 11 a.m. yesterday, “sirens” went off on all mobile phones, televisions, and radios active in Germany, as part of an emergency alert test announced a few days earlier.
It was stated that traditional emergency sirens would also sound simultaneously, but this apparently did not happen in many places. Local communities were allowed to decide whether or not to activate them.
However, the strange, high-pitched sound emitted from mobile phones was enough to cause discomfort, especially among those unaware of the test, who likely thought their devices had malfunctioned.
German authorities had declared September 12th as Warning Day this year. The reasons for testing the warning system, besides the war in Ukraine, include increasingly frequent weather events, floods, and extreme heat.
Warning Day was first declared in Germany in 2020, and since 2021 it has been decided that it will always be held on a day during the second week of September.
