Storm Damage, Who is Liable?

The world's climate is changing due to global warming. This also threatens natural disasters such as we have seen in recent years in Australia, among others, where floods in 2022 caused a lot of damage and personal suffering. But the hurricanes in America also cause casualties and material damage.

Is a natural disaster imminent in the Netherlands?

We hear a lot about disasters all over the world, whether or not as a result of global warming and with it climate change. But what about the Netherlands? After all, this country is below sea level and due to global warming, the sea level is rising.

The flood disaster of 1953

The Netherlands is well protected by its dikes. But things have gone wrong a few times in the past. This is how the flood disaster in the Netherlands began on February 1, 1953. This was the result of a severe storm from the northwest at the same time as high and spring tides. As a result, the water in the funnel-shaped southern North Sea rose to extreme heights. The dikes in the Netherlands could not cope with this rise in sea level and broke. The result was a flood that killed 1836 people.

Dike breach Wilnis

But also, recently a dike in the Netherlands broke. This was in Wilnis in 2003. On August 26, 2003 to be precise, part of the ring road along the ring canal of the Polder near Mijdrecht in Utrecht succumbed. A huge devastation ensued. Victims of the dike breach at Wilnis filed a personal injury claim to recover the damage suffered. Many well-known personal injury lawyers from Amsterdam (Dutch: letselschade advocaat Amsterdam) helped the victims in recovering the material damage and personal injury.

Is a new flood disaster imminent?

In recent years, more natural phenomena have occurred in the Netherlands that cause damage. Because the Netherlands is not only located by the sea and below sea level, it is also rich in rivers. In recent years, the water has been so high here at certain times of the year that flooding is imminent. This is how 2021 went very wrong in Limburg. At that time, the high-water levels of the river Maas caused extreme flooding. Many residents of the province of Limburg were affected. But the neighboring countries of Belgium and Germany also had a lot of nuisances from the floods. These floods were also the second most expensive of 2021. For the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, the material damage was calculated at an amount of 38 billion euros. Here too, many residents were assisted by personal injury lawyers to investigate whether someone was liable for the damage suffered. Many personal injury lawyers in Rotterdam, for example (Dutch: letselschade advocaat Rotterdam) were engaged for this.

The Netherlands therefore faces many threats, particularly due to high water levels. The sea level is rising, and the rivers are sometimes so full that they threaten to flood. Add to that the earthquakes that have occurred in Groningen in recent years. Here too there was a lot of damage to homes and the danger of new earthquakes has not yet passed.

The chance of a new flood disaster in the Netherlands is therefore certainly not impossible. In fact, due to global warming, the Netherlands will have to invest a lot in the coming years in strengthening and raising the dunes to prevent a new flood as in 1953.