Civil protection

Prevention costs a fraction of the damage. We are committed to ensuring that Wiesbaden becomes crisis-resilient through heat, heavy rain and flood protection plans. We want to ensure that citizens' awareness of dangers such as floods, power outages and forest fires is raised. Through civil protection exercises, training and further education, we want to strengthen the self-protection capacity of the population and the effective cooperation between authorities and operational organisations, and to work towards expanding the communication channels for (early) warnings and alerts. Virtual channels such as warning apps are just as important as sirens and local networks to reach the elderly and people without digital access or even disabled people.

Citizens affected by disasters need quick help, but emergency workers and spontaneous helpers often reach the limits of their resilience. In the event of a crisis, we want to make sure that the city of Wiesbaden can provide unbureaucratic support and also take care of the psychosocial emergency care. To ensure that social infrastructures such as hospitals, nursing homes and medical practices do not fail, emergency plans must be prepared with regard to possible patient relocations and the admission of injured persons. We know that civil protection depends in particular on the commitment of thousands of volunteers: In Germany, 90 percent of the helpers in civil protection are volunteers! We want to recognise, strengthen and make this indispensable commitment more attractive, especially for young people, women and people with a history of migration.

In heavy rains and floods, in addition to direct hazards, there may be leakage of oil tanks in heating cellars, among other things. Long drought and heat, on the other hand, cause poisonous algal blooms in our waters; In the event of fires, dangerous flue gases are produced. The city of Wiesbaden should be able to warn citizens at an early stage in these crisis situations and take care of those affected. That is why we want to strengthen the cooperation of the civil protection units with fire brigade, THW and aid organizations.

Extreme periods of heat over a longer period of time are increasing in the wake of climate change and are becoming an increasing burden on people. Especially in the city center, apartments can heat up for days to temperatures that make a relaxing stay and sleep there impossible. We therefore consider it essential that there are cool places easily accessible in Wiesbaden where citizens can stay free of charge at least during the day.

More than 80% All fires in the forest are caused by humans. We therefore want the city of Wiesbaden to launch a broad-based awareness campaign that informs about fire hazards in the forest and raises awareness of responsible behaviour. The sooner a forest fire is detected, the easier it is to avoid major damage. We are committed to a comprehensive digital early warning system and support the equipment and training of our fire brigades. In addition, we want to ensure a dense network of suitable extinguishing water collection points in the city of Wiesbaden.

In a crisis situation, critical infrastructure may fail. It is therefore particularly important that the existing civil protection plans are known to all citizens and that the necessary infrastructure is developed. This is what we are committed to. These include the rapid installation of mobile water tanks and toilets, the dispensing of food rations and necessary medicines for the population, as well as emergency power and fuel supply for the emergency services. We are also committed to ensuring that the fire brigades and aid organisations are equipped with the necessary infrastructure in a future-proof and crisis-resilient manner and are supported by the urban facilities.

To protect against flooding, we rely on the sponge city principle: Rainwater should be able to seep where it falls instead of flowing into congested canals. That is why we are committed to increasing the number of green roofs, infiltration areas and underground storage facilities in Wiesbaden, as well as to unsealing areas where possible.

As retention areas and floodplains, urban areas have already been unsealed and planted with species. We will continue this process successfully.

The city of Wiesbaden has already started planning the rain retention basin in Rambach and completed the Schluckbrunnen in the Kurparkweiher. In addition, the city in our urban forest provides for retainable forest stocks. A conscious water management was developed and, for example, small retention areas were created throughout the area.

Close-to-nature forest structures and consistently undisturbed soils promote water absorption where rainfall falls and reduce surface runoff. This slows down the development of floods, increases the availability of soil water for the trees and enables the formation of new groundwater.

We promote climate-resilient handling of precipitation water. That is why we have successfully campaigned for heavy rain maps to be drawn up and made available to the public by the city of Wiesbaden. In addition, a precipitation water statute is being worked on. The sponge city principle is now used in the redesign of squares (Elsässer Park, Schloßplatz, etc.) and in large new construction projects.

The City of Wiesbaden has already published the first edition of the Heat Action Plan, where it is constantly updated, evaluated and further developed. In addition, a ‘Map of Cool Places’ has been developed and published. This map is constantly being expanded.

In the event of a nationwide power outage or if telecommunications are interrupted, our fire brigades and aid organizations set up mobile and stationary civil protection lighthouses in all districts. This ensures emergency supply and communication. Here you can make emergency calls in the event of a crisis, receive practical help as well as reliable and clear information on the current situation. The locations can be found online in the Wiesbaden geoportal.