Shared floods, shared lessons: Best DRM practices and blind spots. An Impact-Chain cross-country analysis of the 2021 floods in Romania and the Netherlands

Disaster Risk Management (DRM) has been evolving under the pressure of new challenges brought by increasingly frequent and severe multi-hazard events. These events are more likely to impact multiple countries at once, exposing common and specific vulnerabilities of neighbouring communities. One prominent and recent example for Europe comes from the flood events in 2021, considered one of the most destructive hydrological disasters of the 21st century. In Europe, the July 2021 floods claimed over 200 lives, causing widespread disruption and economic loss exceeding 50 billion euros.

The resulting shared but distinct experiences call for joint reflection from scientists and stakeholders from the impacted countries and regions – an exercise whose significance we are only beginning to understand.

This study aims to cross-examine the impacts of the 2021 flood events in Romania and the Netherlands, alongside the vulnerabilities that contributed to them and the adaptation options employed to address them. Drawing from a wide range of sources (e.g., scientific papers, official reports, administrative acts, hydro-meteorological datasets, and news reports), two distinct Impact Chains were developed, one for each country. From these models, we elicited lessons regarding the best practices and blind spots in DRM.

The Impact Chains revolve around the most severely affected areas in the two case studies: Alba County in the northwest of Romania and Limburg province in the southeast of the Netherlands. The chains include cascading hazards such as floods, heavy rainfall, strong winds, and landslides. To ensure their accuracy and reliability, the models were calibrated and validated through stakeholder surveys conducted in each case study area.

Employing a set of Kumu metrics and other custom-designed metrics, the two Impact Chains were analysed to identify the most prominent flood impacts, vulnerabilities, and adaptation options. The comparative analysis provided key insights into the DRM approaches in Romania and the Netherlands, which were leveraged to pinpoint both strengths worth of replication and weaknesses that should be avoided. Notable best DRM practices refer to effective search and rescue operations in both countries, the simplification of flood damage compensation procedures in Romania , and the swift evacuation and accommodation of the population in Limburg. In terms of critical blind spots, both countries are yet to design (multi-)hazard management strategies that factor in pandemic conditions and that also proactively address vulnerabilities rather than merely mitigating flood impacts.

These DRM lessons offer relevant answers to the crux questions that arise following major hazardous events, such as the floods of 2021: What can be done to fend off such severe impacts in the future? and What can we learn from the experience of other countries? By bringing together examples of best practices and pitfalls of DRM, this study fosters constructive dialogue grounded in shared experiences.

This research opens the way to further Impact Chain-based cross-country comparisons of multi-hazards, in an effort conducive to collaboratively deciphering the interplay of multi-risk in diverse contexts and to linking it with country- or region-specific DRM policies and practices.