Styria responds: nationwide blackout exercise planned for summer 2024

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The 28-hour power outage in Upper Styria on December 2 and 3 showed how well prepared households and the public are for a power outage. The state government calls on Styrians to take personal responsibility and prepare.

Coincidentally, emergency response organizations in Murtal district had only practiced communicating with each other without electricity four days before the emergency. And lo, the exercise was worth it, state disaster protection officer Harald Eitner said on Monday: “There was a difference in the way the two districts (Murau and Murtal, note) handled the situation.”

In the Murtal, “the event could be handled at community level,” district governor Nina Pölzl also recalls on the first weekend of December. “We have been preparing for an emergency for a year. Every community has had to deal with it, the aid organizations have put it into practice.” It was striking how calm and disciplined the population behaved.

Sports in the summer throughout the country
But not everything worked. Eitner’s first lesson from the emergency is: an exercise for the entire Styria is needed. They want to organize and hold one at the beginning of the summer.

New rules may be introduced for nursing homes
While emergency power generators provided supplies to hospitals, many nursing homes were dark: electrical records documenting medication were unavailable. That is why the FPÖ, among others, is now demanding that the state government issue a regulation requiring houses to purchase generators.

“We will discuss it in the state parliament,” LH Christopher Drexler said of the initiative, while civil protection officer Eitner also pushed for a solution.

Better communication to the fire brigade
There was also an error in communication with the fire brigades in the Murau district. Communication with the district fire command took place from Graz – a bottleneck that led to blockages. “In the future, all fire chiefs in Styria will receive push notifications on their mobile phones,” Eitner announces.

Radio could not broadcast everywhere
It was also sometimes impossible to reach the population with information: the ORF can only broadcast in 90 percent of Styria and not everywhere. “We want to get this under control together. There is no other way for the authorities to communicate with the Styrians – provided of course you have a suitable radio at home.” This must be powered by batteries, solar energy or dynamo.

That brings Eitner to the most important point: personal amenities. “You have to prepare not only in households, but also in companies.” For example, supply chains wouldn’t work, and not for a while after the electricity comes back.

Heribert Uhl, head of the Civil Defense Association and blackout expert, recommends that every household turn on the FI switch at home. “And then see: how long can I go without having to go shopping?” The minimum equipment includes two liters of water per day per person, food, a radio, lamps, garbage bags, heating and a cooking area.

“We call on all Styrians to prepare”
On Monday, Governor Drexler (ÖVP) and his deputy Anton Lang (SPÖ) thanked all emergency services and the installers who had rebuilt the high-voltage line after 28 hours. They called on all Styrians: “Prepare for a long power outage!”

They want to present a comprehensive action plan for the blackout in the first half of the year.

Source: Krone

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