An NHK special report on Tokyo at risk from rain related floods

The reason for the special report is the governmental report released a few months ago, called 'Tokyo Metropolitan Area Submerged'.

In the video, computer graphics show the effects of the cases examined by the report; for instance, 300 mm per day will cause an estimated 6300 deaths. A big problem is that the current water systems are built to handle 50 mm of rain per hour, whereas the storm seasons in the past years have all seen more than 100 mm of rain per hour. The current focus is on better downpour prediction systems, so that citizens might be informed about evacuation possibilities.

Heavy rain in Japan

NHK reports heavy rain in the Kanto and Touhuko regions of Honshu, Japan (North and North-East, see image below). One particular area received 5.8 cm of rain in 1.40 hours. Aside from floods and landslides,the Japan Meteorological Agency also warns for tornadoes, lightning and wind gusts.

Losser - a final movie

The regional broadcasting channel RTV Oost made an overview of the floods from a helicopter. This is what 5.5 cm of rain in 12 hours looks like:



More information can of course be found on the website of the regional water board (in Dutch).

Losser - a follow up

Yesterday I thought I might visit the Dinkel again and see how much the water had lowered, expecting it to be gone.

It was a calm, sunny evening. As I rode through the fields on my bike, an acorn fell from a tree and made a loud splash. I noticed the Dinkel area has attracted over 600 new birds - all gulls. The water is still there, and it stinks. An early warning of contaminants in the water, which will pollute the soil. Although the water results in beautiful reflective pools and provides opportunities for new species, the downsides are already evident.

It could be far worse. We are lucky to live in a country where there is usually only minor property damage, which can be reimbursed by insurance. Moreover the Netherlands has decades of experience in treating contaminated soil.
During these floods nobody died. But does go to show that even a small river with an average 4m width can uproot daily existence, and it might be a good time to start thinking about flood preparedness...

Hometown Losser makes national news

Thursday the village De Lutte, part of the municipality of Losser, was already on the national news because the main highway to Germany, the A1, was inundated due to the heavy rainfall. Yesterday the extent of the damage locally in De Lutte became clear as the water hadn't been pumped out completely everywhere, and people were loading trucks with damaged carpets and lawn furniture.

Today Losser made the news again, as the river Dinkel, flowing from Germany, flooded well beyond its borders. Fear rose that the highway and railroad might be inundated again, but so far they have remained dry.

A local on the scene explained that in the German town Gronau, where the Dinkel runs through the center of town, the shops had lost their customers after gaining 40 cm of water inside. Thus it was decided to open the sluices of the river Dinkel, letting the water out to the Netherlands. The Dinkel flows to the East of the town Losser, affecting mainly farmland, natural areas and farms.

The national news reports that roads are closed off and the fire department has even set up two points where sandbags are handed out. You can read the full Dutch article here.




More pictures of De Lutte after the rain:



More pictures of the Dinkel in Losser:

News - August

The area affected by the Pakistan floods can now be seen on the website of BBC dimensions in comparison to other countries, so you get an idea of how much soil and how many people really are affected. The UN estimates that there are currently 17.2 million people in need of assistance and 800.000 people are cut off from aid over land, and therefore has asked for 40 additional helicopters.

Yesterday the Netherlands experienced a day of torrential rainfall, after which it has become abundantly clear how too much water can disrupt daily life. Many areas had 50 mm of precipitation within hours, as opposed to it falling during the entire month of August. Coincidentally yesterday also a media event was held after all, on both radio and television channels, to raise money for Pakistan. Over 16.1 million euro was collected, mainly from private donations. The government promised an additional 2 million euro during this event.

Also this week, the ministry of Transport, public works and water management has provided 250 million euros to reinforce weak spots in the Dutch sea defense in areas of the province North-Holland. That's 125% more for floods that may very well never occur, but it's better than nothing.

In the mean time Freerice has also made a change to its website. In the beta version it is now possible to keep track of your daily scores and compare them to others'. If you feel you'd rather provide aid in a physical form rather than money and you don't have a helicopter in your back yard, Freerice is a sure way to do some good whilst getting smarter.

Pakistan floods and aid funds

Voanews shows the extend of the recent Pakistan floods:



The Dutch government reports that 14 million people (8% of the total population) are affected by the floods and the UN organisation OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) needs about 357 million euro to provide aid for the coming three months. In 1953 nearly the entire South-West of the Netherlands suffered a similar flood where 1834 people died. The Netherlands received aid from all over the world, including Pakistan. What is the Netherlands doing to aid Pakistan now?

Many Dutch media reported outrage at the lack of a national television charity event, but given the money such an event would cause (around 1 million euro), charity organisations feared such an event might end up costing more than the money it would raise given that it is holiday season. However, the national account used for gathering individual donations, giro 555, has been opened on the 13th of August and has collected 2.5 million euro during the first 5 days already. Earlier events that did have a television charity event raised 208 million euro for the tsunami in 2004-2005 and 155 million euro for the Haiti earthquake in 2010.
The national government has donated 3 million euro in response to the UN request for aid. Additionally, according to the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs, Pakistan has been receiving Dutch international aid since 1957. The current aid program focuses on environment and water, proper governance and human rights, and has a budget of about 50 million euro per year.

Meanwhile, the Japanese ministry of foreign affairs has provided about 11.2 million euro and helicopters for the recent floods.
Additionally the nornmal yearly aid donated via the Official Development Assistance (ODA) program is divided into three categories, namely loans, grants and technical cooperation. In 2008 the figures spent on these were 438, 55.6 and 10.8 million euro respectively.

To help the UN get the money and goods to help out the people in Pakistan, you can help out too by playing the games at Freerice.