Flood preparedness in the Netherlands: a U.S. perspective

This report discusses some aspects of Dutch crisis management for flooding and for the recovery period, and gives a description of what the American approach could mean for the Dutch situation. It contains a series of articles in which several aspects of the crisis are addressed: (i) flood response, an introduction; (ii) early warning, forecast, situational assessment and sense making; (iii) self reliance and community involvement in Dutch flood response; (iv) managing the response to large scale floods; (v) vertical evacuation: rethinking urban, rural and social space; (vi) public/private partnerships for flood and all hazards emergency and disaster management; (vii) mitigating and managing the health impacts for a catastrophic coastal flooding scenario in The Netherlands; and (viii) evaluation: enriching (flood) emergency preparedness in The Netherlands. Finally, some conclusions and recommendations are given for improvements in the Dutch crisis management practice.