Facing the Next Natural Disaster in the Netherlands

We had five days to spend in Amsterdam and wanted to see more of the Netherlands. Delft is only an hour’s train ride from Amsterdam making it a good day trip destination for us. 

Besides being the home of Delft Pottery and the artist Vermeer of recent Girl with the Pearl Earring fame, Delft is the home of the Institute for Water Education. The Institute is the first noticeable building after leaving the Delft train station. It looked intriguing so we went in hoping to be able to talk to people there. Classes were in session but the woman at the front desk was very happy to tell us about the mission and work of the Institute. It opened in 1953 following a devastating flood in the Netherlands in which the dikes broke and 1836 people died, 70,000 were evacuated, and 500 buildings were totally destroyed.

The Netherlands government resolved to use their resources to study water management in an effort to prevent another flood from happening. They had had a natural disaster but decided not to have another one. Right after the flood, they opened the Institute for Water Education www.un-ihe.org to educate the world about their water management technology. Students come from all over the world especially Third World countries to learn about water management and purification and distribution. Students can earn Masters degrees or Phd’s or take short specifically targeted courses.

Since 1953, the Dutch have built new dikes, dams, and storm surge barriers. In some places especially Rotterdam, they have adapted to the rising waters of climate change by creating lakes, garages, parks, and plazas that double as reservoirs in times of heavy rain. In Rotterdam, the Maeslant Kering, a huge sea gate, was built that allows water to flow or prevents it from coming in as the situation demands. As a result, since 1953, the Dutch have never suffered a devastating flood again. Just in case, however, their children have to do flood disaster drills where they are taught to swim with their clothes and shoes on. Fortunately, they’ve never had to use this skill.

The Dutch have exported their water management technology to places throughout the world including Wuhan, China, Ho Chi Minh City, Cambodia, Jakarta, Indonesia, Venice, Italy, Sao Paolo, Brazil and to Miami, New Orleans, and New York City in the United States.

On a trip to Canada, we met a Dutch couple from Rotterdam. As we ate breakfast together, the woman said, “I don’t understand the people in Houston. We offered to send them our technology after their hurricane and they didn’t want it. Do they want to have floods every year?”

All that I could do was shake my head. I don’t understand it either.