Monthly Monday air-raid tests to fall silent from 2020

Photo: T. Houtwijk/ Wikipedia.
Photo: T. Houtwijk/ Wikipedia.

The monthly emergency alarm tests will stop from 2020, justice minister Ard van der Steur has told Parliament.

The national network of 4,200 civil defence sirens, which is tested on the first Monday of every month at noon, will be switched off and dismantled, Van der Steur said.

In future major emergencies will be broadcast via more modern methods such as alarm vehicles, social media and the NL-alert messaging service, so that more detailed information can be shared quickly.

‘This will tell people not only what is going on, but what they should do at that time,’ said a justice ministry spokesman.

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