After the severe floods of 2021, the Luxembourg government began developing a new nationwide warning system, called GouvAlert, designed to alert the population to emergency situations in due time. Last week’s flooding put the country’s preparedness to the test, and while localised communication allowed authorities to warn affected citizens early on, there is still a need for a coherent nationwide warning system.
After years of testing, GouvAlert is now expected to become fully operational by the end of July.
In conversation with RTL, Alain Becker, first councillor at the Ministry for Home Affairs, explained that inspiration for the warning system came from the French and Dutch models. Designed as a mobile software, the system can be installed on Google and Apple devices to reach users as quickly as possible.
At present, individual government administrations are still responsible for their own content, which can create confusion in an emergency situation. Last week, for instance, the GouvAlert app displayed different information than the Water Management Authority or MeteoLux. To avoid similar instances in the future, an array of administrations, including the police, the Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps (CGDIS), the Health Directorate, as well as the aforementioned ones, are now involved in the development of the new system.
Becker elaborated that another goal is to adjust vocabulary and the label of individual alerts to reduce the margin of error when it comes to interpreting the messages. Ideally, the councillor envisions that the alerts will one day not only be displayed on private phones, but also on public screens normally used for advertising.
As for alert sounds, the plan is to only resort to them in case of real emergencies so as to not numb people’s attention.
