Sounding of the Alarms

On the first Monday of every month, an alarm sounds from towers strategically placed throughout Rotterdam to warn of an impending threat whether it be from a chemical spill in the wharf, the failure of a dike, or an air raid from a neighbouring country (this last reason is of course a bit dated). Now if this alarm happens on the first Monday of every month then it's just a drill. Schools and related emergency programs get to practice their emergency procedures and life is allowed to return to normal.

For someone who has not been brought up with this knowledge, the siren is frightening! What first came to mind the first Monday in October (I arrived in mid September) was an air raid. I was so confused! Through Second World War movies, I had been trained to recognise this sound (or at least imagine this sound) and as the siren wailed, I walked through the apartment and looked out the windows for the sight of panicking people and flashing lights in the streets. I also began to wonder what the emergency numbers (the 911) of the Netherlands are and why I hadn't thought it important enough as of yet to learn any. I racked my brains about what this alarm was trying to tell me to do, do I run and hide, just run, just hide? Eventually it stopped and after some time I returned to my work convinced the school next door was having a fire drill.

Pdot returned home for a trip yesterday and was home today, the first Monday of the month, when the siren when off. 'That siren! That's it! What does it mean?' I asked. I had tried to describe this siren before to him with no avail. 'Oh that!' he said and started laughing. After explaining the possible threats (see above), he told me matter of factly that if I hear this sound on another day besides the first Monday of the month that should 'get inside somewhere, lock the doors, close the windows...and turn on the radio'. He said it just like that. 'The radio?' I thought, turn on the radio as oppose to turning on the computer, television, or mobile phone with internet capabilities? From my understanding, this siren was created during the Second World War to warn of the very real threat of bombing attacks on Rotterdam (Rotterdam city centre was in fact leveled during WWII) and the procedure continues to be reinacted today, on the first Monday of every month. Although it has morphed to include other threats such as environmental disasters, its history remains pertinent through how Dutch children are educated about the sirens and of course through the history of the city that one can see in its post-war architecture.

Just an interesting point to ponder as a stranger living in another country. Past histories are not always lying low waiting to be uncovered but get up in your face and bark loudly. Here's to hoping that a natural disaster (or national emergency) doesn't happen on the first Monday of the month...yet another question unanswered!