“What has happened in Limburg in recent days can happen anywhere in the country. We have to take into account that due to the changing climate we will have to deal with extreme weather more often.” That is what outgoing minister Van Nieuwenhuizen says. She is visiting the flooding area and, among other things, taking stock in the vicinity of Venlo. The minister also says that she sympathizes with all victims and victims in this “macabre” situation.
The minister does not want to make a one-to-one connection with the changing climate. “But I do understand from scientists that these so-called cluster showers can occur more often due to climate change. This is really an issue.” Prime Minister Rutte said something similar yesterday when he visited the flood area.
Van Nieuwenhuizen came to the Maaspark Ooijen Wansum, a 540-hectare ‘water catchment area’ near Venlo. According to Van Nieuwenhuizen, “a lot of work has been done here” in recent years, precisely to “give the water a way”. She thought it was important to see how things are going now.
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The minister finds it intense what she sees and hears, but she is happy that there were no deaths in the Netherlands. “When you hear what happened in countries around us, that’s really a different situation.” Van Nieuwenhuizen is in contact with her colleagues in the affected countries and hopes to meet with them in August. “They also look at us and these kinds of projects.”
Van Nieuwenhuizen emphasizes that the Netherlands is not there yet. “A number of projects have been started, but there is still a lot more to look at. You would have preferred that all projects were already finished.”
According to the minister, the problems with water can also occur in other places in the Netherlands. “This isn’t just something from these regions. The violent cluster showers in which so much precipitation falls in a short period of time can occur everywhere. We have to map out everywhere where we can create even more space for the water.”
Furthermore, all dikes will have to be reassessed. Some dikes have already been modified, but there is still at least 1000 kilometers to go, says Van Nieuwenhuizen, who speaks of a “complete task”.
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