Response Team for Water Disasters Established in Netherlands

The new facility is called Dutch Surge Support (DSS) and is organised in close cooperation with the Dutch water sector and the Netherlands Red Cross

The new facility is called Dutch Surge Support (DSS) and is organised in close cooperation with the Dutch water sector and the Netherlands Red Cross.

In case of a flood disaster an expert team can advise on prevention of more damage or casualties. In other emergency situations a team can advise on restoring water supplies and sanitation.

For this deployment of Dutch water experts in disaster relief operations the Dutch government earmarked 2 million euro till 2017.

Quick response

According to Dutch minister Lilianne Ploumen of Foreign trade and development cooperation, the new facility contributes to a more effective humanitarian aid: "In case of a water related disaster it is important to act quickly and save as many lives as possible. The Netherlands has a lot of knowledge and expertise in the field of water and we want to share this worldwide in emergency situations."

Ploumen states: "Many water experts work for Dutch companies and now we have the facility to deploy them as well. As an example, the United Nations sent a Dutch water expert to Serbia after the floods last year, to advise on the use of pumps for flood water removal.".

Additional to disaster prevention and recover y

With the addition of the new DSS-facility the Dutch government can deliver water related expertise during all phases of a disaster. The new facility is complementary to the Dutch Risk Reduction (DRR) facility that was initiated last year to allow expert teams to be deployed in the reconstruction phase of a disaster, or in case of the prevention of a disaster.

Source: Dutch Water Sector

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Taxonomy

• Flood Management
• Governance & Planning