Dutch Risk Reduction Team in Myanmar

A Dutch Risk Reduction Team (DRR-Team) is now in Myanmar to advise the Government on flood control and solutions for flash floods.

After hurricane Komen severely affected the country last summer, Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Environment offered Nyan Tun Aung, Minister of Transport of Myanmar, a DRR-Team to support the reconstruction process in the country.

A DRR-Team consists of pre-selected experts from the Dutch Water Sector, which can quickly be fielded thanks to the support of the Dutch government.

Two regions
DRR-Team Myanmar focuses on two regions:
● flood control and dike management in the Ayeyarwady delta region
● management of and early warning for flash floods in Kale Township Area (Sagaing region)

Members of DRR Team Myanmar are:
Rob Steijn (Arcadis), Hermjan Barneveld (HKV consultants), Rimmer Koopmans (Arcadis), Eisse Wijma (Royal Haskoning DHV), Joost Beckers (Deltares), Kyaw Lin Htet (Royal Haskoning DHV), and Theo Reuzenaar (Hollands Noorderkwartier Regional Water Authority).

The team will split up to travel to the Ayeyarwady delta region and the Kale Township area. The team is in Myanmar from August 31 untill September 6th.

Extreme flooding
On 30 July, Cyclone Komen made landfall in Bangladesh bringing strong winds and additional heavy rains to Myanmar, which resulted in a significant expansion of monsoonal flood waters.

On 31 July, president Thein Sein declared Chin and Rakhine states, and Magway and Sagaing regions as natural disaster zones.

Other areas, including Bago, were also severely affected, as flood waters from the north move southward. In most dike protected areas dikes were able to protect the areas behind the dikes, but many leakage and erosion problems occurred.

Concerns are that high water levels during the rest of the monsoon season will cause more severe problems.

This news item was originally published on the website of the DRR-Team.

More on this website
● Dutch water experts ready to help flood-stricken Myanmar finding structural solutions, 11 August 2015
● Dutch government sends flood protection experts to landslide hit area in Colombia, 26 May 2015
● Dutch minister Schultz talks about flood risk reduction with Mexican water agency Conagua, 29 January 2015
● Dutch experts assess flood risk reduction options for devastated Tacloban city, the Philippines, 16 July 2014
● Joint seminar on sustainable water management makes Dutch-Myanmar cooperation tangible, 10 June 2014
● Joint action plan to boost modernisation of Myanmar's water management and flood control, 5 June 2013
● Country: Myanmar

More information
Dutch government
Ministry of Foreign Affaires
The Hague, the Netherlands
+31 77 465 67 67
www.government.nl/ministries/bz

and

Dutch Risk Reduction Team
www.dutchwatersector.com/drr