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The Netherlands will soon be a massive exporter of flood-control knowledge and technology as well. It's like they've been practicing for global warming for the

The Netherlands will soon be a massive exporter of flood-control knowledge and technology as well. It's like they've been practicing for global warming for the entire lifetime of their country.

stingraycharles 9y ago
Well we "foolishly" decided to build half our country below sea level. We've seen this interest in the past in the afterwake of Katrina, and we've been exporting this knowledge for quite some time. Unfortunately, it's probably a difficult problem to solve on the massive scale the US needs.
- hwillis 9y ago
  > We've seen this interest in the past in the afterwake of Katrina, and we've been exporting this knowledge for quite some time. Unfortunately, it's probably a difficult problem to solve on the massive scale the US needs. Interestingly, this is a nearly 200 year old problem in America. Most spectacularly in Chicago[1], where the city was barely above the natural water table (Lake Michigan). As the city grew they produced more sewage and the ground was unable to absorb water quickly enough, so water began to backflow into the sewage system. A single Cholera outbreak in these conditions killed 6% of the population. The solution at the time was to just build the sewers above ground, which was obviously a terrible idea. Over 20 years they began raising most of Chicago over 6' into the air. I think this isn't necessary with modern sewage, but in the coming decades we may see stuff like this again for east and west coast cities in the US. It's cheaper to raise entire cities than rebuild them. More energy in the atmosphere means more violent storms, so Southern coastal cities will probably have to move inland. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Chicago
  - selimthegrim 9y ago
    I presume this is why they reversed the river too?
    - hwillis 9y ago
      The sewage drained into the river, which drained into the lake, which was where they got their fresh water, so they built a new river to reverse the original one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Sanitary_and_Ship_Canal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Sanitary_and_Ship_Cana... It's kind of amazing that such a poorly-formed plan didn't go catastrophically wrong, but it's worked okay for over a century.
      - flomo 9y ago
        Interesting. Clicking around from that link and found that the famous Chicago cholera outbreak was a myth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_1885_cholera_epidemic_myth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_1885_cholera_epidemic_...
        hwillis 9y ago
        although for the record that one is not the same as the one that killed 6% of the population, which happened in 1854.
- mcv 9y ago
  Nothing foolish about it. This was once a backwater, and then people starting draining swamps, and then lakes, and slowly turned this into one of the most fertile spots on Earth, and prospered. It was a good decision. Even with the increasing threat of flooding, it's still one of the nicest places in the world to live.
  - Boothroid 9y ago
    I suspect the inhabitants of Saeftinghe (and the hundreds of other Dutch settlements vanished beneath the waves, fascinating stuff) might disagree: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeftinghe https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeftinghe https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_settlements_lost_to_floods_in_the_Netherlands https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_settlements_lost_to_...
    - mcv 9y ago
      Perhaps, but the inhabitants of the other thousands of settlements, including many in polders that were once lakes or seas, would probably agree.
jacquesm 9y ago
NL is not a country it is a machine that exists by the grace of the countless engineers and construction workers that keep on adding to our water management systems. But we're not just facing danger from the sea side, the rivers are quite capable of flooding the country as well.
- davedx 9y ago
  That's why we need 'ruimte voor de rivier'! The video on this page is pretty neat: https://www.rijkswaterstaat.nl/water/waterbeheer/bescherming-tegen-het-water/maatregelen-om-overstromingen-te-voorkomen/ruimte-voor-de-rivier.aspx https://www.rijkswaterstaat.nl/water/waterbeheer/bescherming...
mcv 9y ago
I think we already are. The Dubai artificial islands are being made by Dutch companies. When Katrina hit New Orleans, Dutch experts were sent there. I assume the same thing will happen with Houston.

The Netherlands will soon be a massive exporter of flood-control knowledge and technology as well. It's like they've been practicing for global warming for the entire lifetime of their country.

stingraycharles 9y ago

Well we "foolishly" decided to build half our country below sea level. We've seen this interest in the past in the afterwake of Katrina, and we've been exporting this knowledge for quite some time. Unfortunately, it's probably a difficult problem to solve on the massive scale the US needs.

hwillis 9y ago
> We've seen this interest in the past in the afterwake of Katrina, and we've been exporting this knowledge for quite some time. Unfortunately, it's probably a difficult problem to solve on the massive scale the US needs. Interestingly, this is a nearly 200 year old problem in America. Most spectacularly in Chicago[1], where the city was barely above the natural water table (Lake Michigan). As the city grew they produced more sewage and the ground was unable to absorb water quickly enough, so water began to backflow into the sewage system. A single Cholera outbreak in these conditions killed 6% of the population. The solution at the time was to just build the sewers above ground, which was obviously a terrible idea. Over 20 years they began raising most of Chicago over 6' into the air. I think this isn't necessary with modern sewage, but in the coming decades we may see stuff like this again for east and west coast cities in the US. It's cheaper to raise entire cities than rebuild them. More energy in the atmosphere means more violent storms, so Southern coastal cities will probably have to move inland. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Chicago
- selimthegrim 9y ago
  I presume this is why they reversed the river too?
  - hwillis 9y ago
    The sewage drained into the river, which drained into the lake, which was where they got their fresh water, so they built a new river to reverse the original one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Sanitary_and_Ship_Canal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Sanitary_and_Ship_Cana... It's kind of amazing that such a poorly-formed plan didn't go catastrophically wrong, but it's worked okay for over a century.
    - flomo 9y ago
      Interesting. Clicking around from that link and found that the famous Chicago cholera outbreak was a myth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_1885_cholera_epidemic_myth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_1885_cholera_epidemic_...
      - hwillis 9y ago
        although for the record that one is not the same as the one that killed 6% of the population, which happened in 1854.
mcv 9y ago
Nothing foolish about it. This was once a backwater, and then people starting draining swamps, and then lakes, and slowly turned this into one of the most fertile spots on Earth, and prospered. It was a good decision. Even with the increasing threat of flooding, it's still one of the nicest places in the world to live.
- Boothroid 9y ago
  I suspect the inhabitants of Saeftinghe (and the hundreds of other Dutch settlements vanished beneath the waves, fascinating stuff) might disagree: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeftinghe https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeftinghe https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_settlements_lost_to_floods_in_the_Netherlands https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_settlements_lost_to_...
  - mcv 9y ago
    Perhaps, but the inhabitants of the other thousands of settlements, including many in polders that were once lakes or seas, would probably agree.

jacquesm 9y ago

NL is not a country it is a machine that exists by the grace of the countless engineers and construction workers that keep on adding to our water management systems. But we're not just facing danger from the sea side, the rivers are quite capable of flooding the country as well.

davedx 9y ago
That's why we need 'ruimte voor de rivier'! The video on this page is pretty neat: https://www.rijkswaterstaat.nl/water/waterbeheer/bescherming-tegen-het-water/maatregelen-om-overstromingen-te-voorkomen/ruimte-voor-de-rivier.aspx https://www.rijkswaterstaat.nl/water/waterbeheer/bescherming...

mcv 9y ago

I think we already are. The Dubai artificial islands are being made by Dutch companies. When Katrina hit New Orleans, Dutch experts were sent there. I assume the same thing will happen with Houston.