Impact project Multi-layer flood risk management on the Wadden Islands
The Samenwerkingsverband De Waddeneilanden, Safety Region Fryslân and Antea Group conducted a scenario study of flood risks on the Wadden Islands. The report “Waddenlei Overstroomt” translates conversations from residents and tourists about their experience before, during and after a flood on a fictitious Wadden Island into flood risks.
Living and working on one of the Wadden Islands is sometimes just a bit different than it is on the mainland. The Wadden Islands Partnership (Samenwerkingsverband De Waddeneilanden), in collaboration with the Fryslân Security Region and the Antea Group, conducted a scenario study into the flood risks on the Wadden Islands. This result of this impact project is the report Waddenlei Overstroomt [Waddenlei is flooded]. In this report, conversations with residents and tourists about their experiences before, during and after a flood on a fictional Wadden Island are translated into flood risks. The results of the study, with experiences from the past and the storm in 2013, were made public in the film of the same title.
The aim of the report and the film is to create awareness among administrators and other stakeholders. The report also clearly highlights the consequences of a possible flood, the vulnerable locations and the situations for crisis shelters.
Results
The story Waddenlei overstroomt describes what happens in the run-up to, during and immediately after a flood on a Wadden Island. Subjects such as evacuation, accessibility, emergency shelters and coping capacity come up for discussion. Supplementary to the Delta Programme, the Wadden Islands Partnership wants to test whether the entire flood risk management chain sufficiently corresponds with what residents and tourists would do during a heavy storm.
The fictional story forms the starting point for developing a strategy for each of the Wadden Islands. The impact project Waddenlei overstroomt (“Waddenlei Floods”) was the result of an initial exploration. The story describes an emergency situation and how managers and emergency services could respond in such a case. The scenario study mainly focuses on evacuation and crisis management, the third layer of multi-layer flood risk management. The fictional situations and dilemmas described in the case study were translated into practical recommendations. The next step was to examine how these insights could be applied to the actual situation on the different islands. This also created links with the second layer of multi-layer safety, which focuses on spatial planning, and the first layer, which concerns flood defences such as dikes.
The scenario study was carried out within the Spatial Adaptation Delta Programme, commissioned by the Wadden Islands Partnership and in cooperation with the Fryslân Safety Region.
Contact person
Albert-Jan Zijlstra
Samenwerkingsverband De Waddeneilanden (Frisian Islands Partnership)
+31(0)6 - 25 38 71 56
ajzijlstra@keerwateradvies.nl