Look what they did about flood control in the Netherlands.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

The North Sea Protection Works is considered to be one of the seven wonders of the modern world -- a triumph of engineering that allows the Netherlands to continue to exist even though it (like NO) is below sea level. Guess it just proves what can be done if the political will exists and a government actually values its people over political grandstanding. The Dutch obviously chose not to be drowned in the North Sea -- or in Grover Norquist's accursed bathtub.

http://www.asce.org/history/seven_wonders.cfm#neder

[DS1]

1. The Dutch also have a noticable lack of severe weather seasons

[ThoughtCriminal]

2. North Sea Flood of 1953

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_Flood_of_1953

[DS1]

4. Anything since?

On a regular annual timescale? Which has made commentators say time and time again "Whew, good thing it's not headed for NO"

[ThoughtCriminal]

8. I'm not sure, but keep in mind

New Orleans had not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane since 1965.

[neweurope]

12. READ THIS:The last great floods in the Netherlands were 1993,

1995, 1998.When the search function is available again look for somebody's post here that described in detail one of those floods, I believe it was the 1998 flood. A very interesting post!

I forgot the numbers unfortunately, but I think with the help of Germans and Belgians a million people were evacuated in time (I might have that number wrong, though - anyway a hell of a lot of people). Nobody died, everybody got three meals a day. All animals were evacuated, including (I seem to remember) 100.000 cows.

AND EVERY COW GOT MILKED.

There is a lot the USA could learn from the Netherlands. The Netherlands are almost entirely beneath sea level. And so they are also closely watching - and preparing for - climate change. If the US - sorry, but it must be said - didn't always think they were the cat's patooty (sp.?) they could learn from all kinds of other countries. Even from Cuba, where there are hardly ever any dead in hurricanes because they have worked out a grand evacuation and first aid system.

-----------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Au contraire.

The North Sea can get very nasty. No hurricanes, but there can be some horrific windstorms.

[chalky]

5. Actually...

For centuries, the people of the Netherlands have repeatedly attempted to push back the sea, only to watch brutal storm surges flood their efforts, since the nation sits below sea level and its land mass is still sinking.

And...

Step one, a 19-mile-long enclosure dam, was built between 1927 and 1932. The immense dike, 100-yards thick at the waterline, collars the neck of the estuary once known as Zuiderzee. Step two, the Delta Project, was intended to control the treacherous area where the mouths of the Meuse and Rhine Rivers break into a delta. The project's crowning touch was the Eastern Schelde Barrier, a two-mile barrier of tell gates slung between massive concrete piers, which fall only when storm-waters threaten.

Sounds a bit sturdier than what NO was dealing with.

[nascarblue]

6. Or what about CUBA???

Poor ass Cuba evacuated 1.7 million people without communications. They even evacuated peoples refrigirators, animals, etc. I saw the article on Boingboing yesterday...

http://www.boingboing.net

[ms liberty]

7. There was an episode about this on...

one of those shows like Modern Marvels or Building the Ultimate that comes on Discovery or one of those satellite/cable channels. It was really interesting, there was tons of footage about them building it...and it was on about a month or so ago. I may try to find it, if I do I'll post it.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

9. Check out the last paragraph in this Salon piece - $3.7 BILLION

Dutch Anti-Flood Plans to Be Reviewed

- - - - - - - - - - - -

September 04,2005 | AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Anti-flood measures will be reviewed in all Dutch regions below sea level in light of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath to ensure they would be adequate in an emergency, the government said Sunday.

All possible weak spots in the dikes -- the tall, uniform embankments that protect the Dutch countryside -- also will be examined, said Melanie Schultz van Haegen, the junior transport and waterworks minister.

She said emphasis will be placed on the populous Amsterdam and Rotterdam regions, which both lie below sea level, De Telegraaf newspaper reported Sunday.

Flood protection in The Netherlands -- a country about twice the size of New Jersey that is mostly below sea level -- is considered among the best in the world. The government is planning to spend $3.7 billion over the next ten years on new projects against the threat from river floods, in addition to the $620 million spent annually on maintaining the current system in the country.

[stevietheman]

10. Yeah, it's good they didn't follow the Hastert bulldozing plan. :) n/t

n/t

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. Hastert to city of New Orleans: Drop Dead

[neweurope]

13. kick