Latvian rescue service urges public to take alerts seriously

Many people in Latvia do not pay close attention to cellular broadcast alerts, according to a survey reported by LSM. The State Fire and Rescue Service will urge residents to take the warnings more seriously in a November campaign called “I notice. I understand. I act.”

The Norstat survey, conducted from late October to early November, found that 95% of respondents had received a cellular broadcast alert at least once, but only 51% had taken one seriously. More than a third said they noticed alerts but did not always act on them. About one in 10 respondents paid no attention to the alerts or ignored them. Women were more likely to take them seriously.

In Latgale, nearly one in five respondents said they ignored or did not notice the alerts, compared with 9% nationally. The survey found that 97% of respondents in the region had received an alert, and 85% could correctly identify the colours of all three alert levels: red, orange and yellow. However, 33.3% said they noticed alerts but did not always consider it necessary to act.

About one in five people across Latvia do not know what the alert levels mean, including the yellow and orange warnings.