The aid is currently mainly provided by the Red Cross and other volunteers. More than 15,000 volunteers have registered with the Red Cross Flanders and more than 30 million euros have been collected: a Belgian record.
Many volunteers are disturbed by the lack of coordination and concrete help from the government. “If no volunteers had come to the area in the first days, many more people would have died,” says a volunteer from Flemish Brabant.
Another volunteer is furious about the attitude of the Belgian government. She lives in Brussels. “I am also particularly concerned that 130 kilometers from my front door people are without electricity and plumbing for more than two weeks after the disaster. Unacceptable.”
‘System not suitable’
According to Hugo Marynissen, crisis management expert at the University of Antwerp, Belgium is not prepared for a major crisis. It is legally unclear who should take charge during such major disasters. “The current structure in Belgium works fine in case of small and manageable crises. But for large ones, such as the corona pandemic or the floods of three weeks ago, the current system is not suitable.”
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