Overview
- The Onderzoeksraad voor Veiligheid concludes that governments, businesses and citizens are insufficiently prepared for safety threats from heavier and longer rainfall.
- The board warns of cascading disruption when sewer systems overflow, electricity fails or hospitals become unreachable, elevating the risk of societal disorder.
- Recommended actions include expanding sewer capacity, creating more water storage, protecting the power supply and access to care, improving sharing of water-level information and strengthening timely weather warnings.
- Households are encouraged to decouple rain downpipes and remove paving in gardens to help retain water locally and reduce runoff.
- Recent incidents underscore the risk, including an emergency department closure in Doetinchem, long-term uninhabitability of homes in Enschede and a substation short circuit in Nijverdal.