Eefje Hendriks, Assistant Professor of Disaster Resilience and Humanitarian Assistance at the University of Twente, researches how people prepare for disasters such as floods and earthquakes. Not by relocating people, but rather by looking at the biggest challenges and opportunities for building a house that is more resilient to extreme conditions.
"A house is often a person’s most valuable possession. Losing it in a disaster can greatly limit your prospects for the future."
In many parts of the world, people are left to rebuild on their own after a disaster. Help sometimes does not arrive in time or does not fully match the reality on the ground. Building techniques and materials that work well here can be dangerous elsewhere. Well-intentioned solutions are sometimes left unused because the right tools for assembly or maintenance are lacking.
That is why Eefje talks directly with residents and local experts. She studies what really works. Sometimes it is a reinforced toilet that protects valuables or offers a place to shelter. In other cases, it is rice stored on raised wooden platforms to keep it safe from floodwaters. Small interventions with big impact.
Why relocating is not always possible
Relocating to safer ground may sound like the obvious solution, but Eefje explains that it is often not realistic. Many people cannot afford a different plot of land, or are not allowed to move elsewhere. And even if they do relocate, they often lose their livelihood. “After the tsunami in Southeast Asia, many people were forced to move inland,” she says. “But that meant they no longer had access to their boats, and lost their source of income.”
Avoiding risky areas altogether is not a realistic option either. “If we tried to avoid all dangerous places, there would be very few habitable areas left.”
What about the Netherlands?
The Netherlands may feel safe behind its dikes, but the situation is more fragile than it seems. Rising water and land subsidence make sixty percent of the country flood prone, including much of the Randstad.
Want to know how high the water could get where you live? Visit overstroomik.nl
Listen to the podcast
What makes a house vulnerable to disasters? How can you make a home disaster resilient? And what can we learn from this in the Netherlands? Learn this and more in the podcast episode by the University of the Netherlands, in which Eefje explains her research and insights
