DM1ST(^10) DAILY MIRROR TUESDAY 03.03.
Voice of the
PM’s latest
slow show
BORIS Johnson finally waking up to the
coronavirus crisis is not reassuring
leadership from a Tory politician with a
poor record of delivery.
From London City Hall to the Foreign Office,
the PM’s record raises real doubts about his
ability to do a serious job seriously.
His slowness in grasping the potentially-
calamitous danger of deadly flu without an
antidote is deeply concerning.
The country is braced for more cases, so
dealing with them and preparing contingency
plans while urging members of the public to
stay calm and carry on is a sensible strategy.
But years of underfunding in the National
Health Service means everyone from ambu-
lance crews to GPs and hospital staff are
already overstretched and there is no slack.
Should coronavirus become an epidemic in
the UK, the Premier’s bankrupt Tory politics
will be a mortal menace.
Dutch to learn
BRITAIN has left the European Union yet
we can learn much from the Dutch about
how to avoid the floods ruining the lives
of families in swamped homes.
Central to the answer is huge investment in
properly maintained flood defences that stop
water destroying properties and threatening
lives, which the Netherlands learned long ago.
Inadequate spending by successive Tory
governments is partly to blame for the misery
endured by thousands of people this winter.
Living greener is essential in the face of the
climate change emergency. But the wet
weather is not going to end immediately.
Squeezing public spending imposes high
costs on those washed out of homes.
Priti worrying
THE public deserves reassurance that the
outcome of the Cabinet Office inquiry into
bullying allegations against Priti Patel is
not preordained.
It would be a breach of trust to plan a report
clearing the Home Secretary before a probe
has taken place. Let’s hope it is not happening.
Kramer, from the Water Manage-
ment Information Centre, shows
me around what he called “the
Netherlands’ front door”.
The Maeslantkering, said to be
the world’s largest robot, is the
storm surge barrier
protecting the port of
Rotterdam and over a million
people. Completed in 1997, it
consists of two metal arms
the size of the Eiffel Tower.
They stay open to allow
ships to pass, but are ready to
close when the water rises by
9ft. Jeroen says when a nation
suffers major floods people
there ask: “What are the
pumping stations. The jewel in the
crown is the Eastern Scheldt storm
surge barrier, completed in 1986,
which is nearly six miles long.
Flood prevention is a source of
national pride, evident as Jeroen
during the 20th century. As well as
the death toll, 47,300 buildings
were flooded.
The damage ran into tens of
billions of pounds in today’s money.
Within 18 days, the Dutch
government created a
commission to try to ensure
the country was never devas-
tated by floods again.
Billions were spent on the
Delta Works, the largest flood
protection system in the
world. As well as 13 storm
barriers, work included
strengthening dykes, widening
rivers and a system of drainage
ditches, canals, sandbanks and
turning
the tide
How Holland conquered flooding..
& the lessons Britain needs to learn
exclusive
by NADA FARHOUD
Environment Editor
in The Netherlands
calls for solution as the suffering continues
HAVING fled on to the roof as
the flood surged, a petrified
family clung on as the struc-
ture broke to bits and they were
sent hurtling across the water.
They spent the freezing night
floating along on fragments of the
roof. Not all of them survived.
Mina Kooijman, who was 12 at
the time of the ordeal in 1953, said
she watched the sea water in
their village in the
Netherlands rush
towards them “like a
grey monster”.
Around 1,800 of her
compatriots were
killed. It kick-started
huge investment in
flood defences, and no
one has been killed by
floods since then.
Experts now say
Britain needs to follow
the Dutch example.
The catastrophic
storm in the North Sea in
1953 killed more than
300 people in the UK and
caused the MV Princess
Victoria to sink off the
coast, taking the lives of 133 more.
At 5.30pm on January 31, a tele-
gram warning of “extremely
dangerous high water” was issued
by the Dutch Met Office.
But few organisations subscribed
to the telegram service in the low-
lying nation and hardly anyone in
the worst-hit areas was warned.
The force of the waves burst the
nation’s dykes and in a few hours
water filled homes in the Zeeland
province to the second floor.
Mina’s family in the farming
community of Nieuwerkerk, south
west of Rotterdam, made their way
into the attic then out on to the
roof of their barn as the water rose.
She later recalled: “We saw my
gran, Uncle Pau and housekeeper
[ floating] by on a raft. A little later
they disappeared into the water.
“Then the barn roof broke into
pieces. My father and brother Han
were on a separate piece of roof.
“My mother, brother Wim, sister
Hanna and I were on another.”
After hours bobbing along in the
wind and rain, the family reached
a dyke and found refuge in a small
house that had taken in 100 others
who were suddenly homeless.
But 15-year-old Han did not
make it. When the high water
peaked at 3am, many people were
caught out while sleeping.
The North Sea flood was the
worst disaster in the Netherlands
b Attle Bid to close breached dyke
6
Length in miles of the
Eastern Scheldt storm
surge barrier
18
Days it took the decisive
Dutch to set up panel
that ended the problem
sURvivOR
Museum
founder
Ria Geluk
DelUgeD Flooded street
in the Netherlands in 1953
giANt Maeslantkering
storm surge barrier
p ROtectiON The
huge eastern scheldt
storm surge barrier
JOHNSON BABY NEWS
..so, what about the bawling, the
tantrums, the dirty nappies?..
Well, Dominic is
Dominic.. that’s
just how he rolls..