Page 150 - Crisis Communication Practical PR Strategies

Negative Press and How to Deal with It 131
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quays in cities along the rivers have been improved and fortified.
The danger of flooding and breaching levees has been reduced
to a minimum. The government has earmarked some thinly pop-
ulated areas as land where excess water can be collected in times
of emergency. What could have turned into a natural disaster has
been limited mainly to financial damage.
Water control is in the genes of every Dutchman and the
country is able to keep every inhabitant’s feet dry. Still, the risk of
flooding has become an issue again, following studies on
climate change, global warming and the effects they could have
on the sea level. Twenty-six per cent of The Netherlands is below
sea level, and this is in the most populated areas; the lowest
point of the country is 6.7 metres below sea level.
According to studies by the Dutch weather agency, KNMI, this
century the sea level could rise by some 15–88 cm. Will we see
cameras zoom in to flooded areas more frequently? And what
will be the effect on the image of The Netherlands and the Dutch
tourism sector when areas are flooded more often? The same
questions might be asked of areas such as the Mississippi delta,
the Nile delta, the lower parts of India, Bangladesh and the
Indonesian Archipelago.