Today, like every first Monday of the month, the air raid siren will sound for exactly 1 minute and 26 seconds. The Netherlands stands still for a moment. Nothing wrong, twelve o’clock. The monthly test of the Warning and Alert System.
If it is up to the Minister of Justice and Security, this will now really come to an end after a few postponements of execution. The WAS poles will be replaced by NL-Alert, the loud piercing beep that comes on the mobile phone. With, as proponents of this system used to say, an associated ‘action perspective’. While the air raid siren only instructs you to ‘go inside and close windows and doors’, an NL-Alert can also report in the text message what is happening and where. And more importantly, whether you should not stay at home but rather flee, as in the case of flooding.
The decision to end the air raid siren was already made in 2006. Advancing technology made it redundant, was and is the idea. Moreover, the static system with the 4,278 masts does not reach all residents: there are none in very small villages, no new WAS poles were installed in neighborhoods planned after 2000, and the improved insulation of houses and offices often means that the noise inside cannot be heard.
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a report on the importance of the air raid siren
Criticism is now rightly increasing, not only administratively, but also politically and socially. Because although the reach of NL-Alert has improved, it is not comprehensive. The minister assumes that everyone always has their phone on or within reach. So also at night in the bedroom. In the operating room. At school, where cell phones have just been banned.
The Netherlands also has 2.5 million inhabitants who have difficulty reading and using a computer or smartphone. Has industrial areas where local residents are at greater risk, and where employees are sometimes not allowed to carry a mobile phone for safety reasons. The mayors from the safety regions around Chemelot in Limburg, the nuclear power plant in Borssele, and the ports of Rotterdam warn that NL-Alert is “not a full-fledged alternative”.
Meanwhile, the NCTV warns of cyber attacks and the vulnerability of vital digital infrastructure, and energy companies warn of power shortages. Concerns about overdependence on foreign tech companies are increasing, and there are no Dutch smartphones.
What if there is a power outage? Telephone antennas will continue to work for a few hours if they have a backup battery. Then they fall out. Cell phones can no longer be charged. The website crisis.nl, on which the government publishes its information, can no longer be visited.
Then the WAS pole with its seven-day emergency battery. With its old, but independently functioning, analogue system controlled by a human via radio signals and therefore difficult to hack. Yes, citizens may no longer know what to do when the siren sounds. A poll in 2023 showed that this was the case for 58 percent of respondents. But the government campaign has not been broadcast for twenty years.
The Netherlands has an excellent warning system. With NL-Alert, which can also be used for less acute events where the government only wants to provide information. And the WAS pole in case of acute danger. Anyone who hears the siren at any time other than the first Monday of the month knows something is wrong. Together they reach the most people. Better to be shy than to be shy.
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