"Robert Green" wrote in
:

Sadly, I think the Netherlands ever do get hit with a storm the size
of Katrina, it means the end of Holland. I've seen the remarkable
dams they've built -- but for every tall wall, there's a taller
ladder. The storm surge from a major hurricane on a place that's
struggling to keep the ocean out every *normal* day frightens me.
Some scientists say that hurricanes are a major part of the heat
exchange system of the planet. If that shifts, who knows what storm
patterns will evolve? One easy guess is longer lasting hurricanes and
it appears to be the unusually long-lived storms that affect Europe.


On January 31, 1953, a long-lasting Northwest storm hit peak, just as the
bimonthly springtide hit peak. Water pushed down into the "funnel" of
the shallow North Sea formed by the Netherlands and England near the NE
entrance to the Channel. That water broke many natural and man-made
defenses, resulting in one of the worst floods, mainly in Holland, but
also England. Many people died in the flooding. It was one of the first
uses of helicopters in rescues, as well as the use of WWII amphibious
DUKWs, and caissons like the Normandy harbor Mulberries.

In consequence, the socalled Delta Plan was started, modified and
implemented. It was a 25-year plan to increase water defenses by
shortening the enormously long dikes along the islands in the Delta by
closing some of the outlets of the rivers, and reinforcing the existing
westernmost dikes and dunes. As a boy growing up in Holland, it was and
still is one of the most amazing engineering things done. The plan was
often modified by new techniques, adapted or invented for the challenging
plans. It was also affected by emerging realizations on ecosystems.

Holland is well aware of the continued threat of increasingly dangerous
floods, and is (apparently) having a very long and costly plan to further
enhance defenses, both from the sea and the rivers.

--
Best regards
Han
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