The Flood House Concept : A New Approach in Reducing Flood Vulnerability

Deltas throughout the world are vulnerable to natural hazards. New Orleans provides a recent and obvious example. We analyzed the situation in New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta after hurricane Katrina has passed, from a vulnerability perspective. Vulnerability can be subdivided into four components: threshold capacity, coping capacity, recovery capacity and adaptive capacity. The vulnerability of New Orleans could be decreased by increasing these capacities. We propose Flood House as a concept to improve the four vulnerability capacities simultaneously. The Flood House is a flood-proof water management centre, in which people, science, government and business come together, first to remember victims of Katrina, but second to learn, discuss and create new - joint - ideas on all kinds of water management and flood related issues. This results in innovative strategies, policies and products to increase individual and collective safety against further future floodings. Pre-conditions for success are adaptation to local circumstances and a differentiated approach to, and platforms for, the different societal stakeholders. The Flood House facilitates an innovative approach to governance on disaster management and could therefore even have a function during hurricanes. Once it has been tested and proven itself, the concept could be transplanted to other delta regions throughout the world.