Category: Floods

By Guus Berkhout.

The huge floods in Europe show that the EU water drainage has fallen short in protecting citizens. Even in the South of my country (The Netherlands), with an excellent record of water management, there is a huge amount of damage. How could this happen?

Citizens blamed

The situation along the coast and major rivers of my country is pretty much in order and ensured there were no casualties. However, still a lot of work need be done on the canals, tributaries and local streams. In Southeast Netherlands life is totally disrupted for some time. We already took note of this shortcoming during the major floods in the early 1990s. We also saw at that time that responsible national and local green politicians were ducking their responsibility by blaming CO2-emissions. Now, after 30 years, nothing has changed. Again, European politicians state that they are not to blame for the victims and damage, but claim that the citizens and entrepreneurs, who have refused to play the green climate emergency game, are the culprits – an impudent way to disguise their own failure. Continue reading “Green Politicians, Stop Blaming Climate Change for Your Failures”

By Viv Forbes

Natural flood plains form where floods spread silt and mud in river valleys. Being flat, fertile, picturesque and usually supplied with surface and underground water, they attract farms, orchards and gardens. These are inevitably followed by roads, houses and businesses.

Despite all the planners with their rules, the pressure of people plus a bit of corruption has always resulted in population clustering on fertile flood plains and deltas beside scenic rivers. There is no point trying to stop or reverse this tide of history but those who choose to build on flood plains must bear the costs of the occasional flood.

Community groups will always help those stricken by floods but taxpayers and insurers should not be forced to subsidise the insurance and damage costs for those who choose to live in risky places – their choice, their risk, their cost. Naturally insurance for flood-prone property will be expensive or not available – a clear message for those with ears to hear.

More cautious people build on the hills and leave the flood plains for floods, farms, trees, market gardens and grass. Rational town planning would require sellers and developers to provide accurate flood maps to buyers, and councils should paint flood levels on power poles.

Continue reading “Flood Plains are for Floods”