(haipo) – The Haifa Municipality announced a significant change in the city's warning system: the "Haifa West" area, which is considered one of the largest warning areas in the city, will be split in two. The goal of the move is to provide residents with more accurate warnings, reduce unnecessary entry into protected areas, and improve emergency procedures.
The Haifa Municipality informed Haifa:
After extensive headquarters work by the Home Front Command and the Security Division in the Haifa Municipality, it was decided to split the "Haifa West" area and define a new alert zone called "Bat Galim–Kiryat Eliezer".
The split goes into effect today.
Significant fragmentation: New warning zone in Haifa
While "Haifa West" remains as it was, it has been redefined so that it no longer includes the neighborhoods of Kiryat Eliezer, Bat Galim, and Kiryat Eliyahu. The three neighborhoods will now be defined as an independent area for receiving alerts.
What is this due to?
Until now, the "Haifa West" area included a very long strip: from Neot Peres in the southwest to Kiryat Eliezer and Bat Galim in the north of the city. In practice, the large distances between the neighborhoods in the area created situations in which residents received alerts that were not relevant to them.
According to the Home Front Command, the split allows for the targeting of alerts so that residents of remote neighborhoods do not have to enter protected areas if the threat does not concern their residential area.
What does each warning zone include?
"Haifa West" area – after the change: will include the area From Neot Peres to the Ein Hayam neighborhood only.
The new warning area – "Bat Galim-Kiryat Eliezer", will include the following neighborhoods:
- Kiryat Eliezer
- Bat Galim
- Kiryat Eliyahu
Improving residents' lives: fewer unnecessary alerts
According to the Home Front Command, residents will now receive more targeted alerts, thus avoiding unnecessary emergencies.
For example: if an alarm is sounded only in Bat Galim houses, residents of Neot Peres or Ein Hayam will not be required to enter a protected area and vice versa.
The move is intended to reduce stress, confusion, and anxiety, and to adapt alerts to the real threat landscape.
The municipality's words: "Less congestion, more precision"
Yair Zilberman, Director of the Security and Emergency Services Department at the Haifa Municipality, welcomed the split: "The update to the alert system is an important step that provides residents with a higher-quality and more accurate alert. When the area is narrowed and better adapted to the threat space, residents receive fewer alerts that do not concern them, which reduces congestion and anxiety during an emergency. This accuracy allows residents to act correctly and on time, without unnecessarily entering protected areas."
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