Imagine, if ...
a massive cloudburst occurs in the North-West of the Netherlands. Days of heavy rain fall and a lot of water...
At the same time, a huge problem is on the rise: The water cannot be drained into the Amsterdam Rhine Canal, an extremely important drainage system.
The catastrophe is evolving
After several days of rain around 4 million residents are affected by severe flooding. Water floods the streets and low-lying areas and the inundations last for approximately ten days.
This drives Water boards, RWS and safety regions towards scaling up to maximum capacity. Cooperation must be organized interregionally. The Ministry of Defence is asked for assistance.
This scenario is no distant dystopia. What it could look like and how we can react to that is being trained during the Cloudburst Exercise near Utrecht in November 2025.
The Dutch waterboard Hoogheemraadschap De Stichtse Rijnlanden together with the Dutch Ministerie van Defensie work together.
Learn more about the exercise and visit our partner´s website
Adopting to new climate conditions