The Dutch Safety Board (Onderzoeksraad voor Veiligheid, OVV) has concluded that the Netherlands is insufficiently prepared for the safety risks posed by extreme rainfall, both now and in the future. In a report published on January 22, the board warns that the dangers are being underestimated, political priority remains low, and current measures are too small-scale to keep pace with the increasing frequency of heavy rain caused by climate change.
What the report found
The OVV investigated three recent incidents caused by extreme rainfall. On July 21, 2024, the emergency department of Slingeland Hospital in Doetinchem flooded and had to close for more than seven hours. Rainwater poured into the facility and toilets overflowed. All rooms had to be dried and disinfected before patients could be treated again. The board notes that the consequences could have been far worse. The Zwarte Cross festival was taking place nearby, and a building roof collapsed in Doetinchem the same day next to an indoor playground.
In late 2023, a power substation near Nijverdal failed during heavy rain, cutting electricity to more than 11,000 connections for over five hours. The grid operator, the OVV found, had assessed the risk of extreme rain as low and had little knowledge of climate-related risks at that location.
The third case examined was the flooding in Enschede on July 21, 2024, when 55 millimetres of rain fell in one hour. The low-lying neighbourhoods of Pathmos and Stadsveld filled with water, and over 80 homes were flooded. In the days that followed, it became clear that sewage water had seeped into walls and floors, causing extensive damage and health problems for residents. Ultimately, 57 households had to be relocated. What was meant to be temporary became permanent. In April 2025, the municipality concluded there was no way to prevent a repeat in the short term. Some homes will be demolished and others will remain empty for up to eight years while infrastructure work is carried out.
47 neighbourhoods at similar risk
The OVV has identified 47 neighbourhoods across the Netherlands that are just as vulnerable as Pathmos. These areas share a combination of low-lying locations, older housing stock with features like wooden floors and permeable walls, and residents with limited financial means to take protective measures themselves. In these neighbourhoods, the board warns, extreme rain could cause similarly devastating consequences.
The affected areas are scattered across the country, with several in the provinces of Overijssel and Limburg. These are regions that have already experienced severe flooding in recent years.
Why the problem is getting worse
Two factors are compounding the risk. Urbanisation has reduced the land's ability to absorb and drain water, as green spaces give way to paved surfaces. Meanwhile, climate change is making rainfall more intense and more frequent. The summer of 2023 to 2024 was the wettest year ever recorded in the Netherlands.
The OVV criticises the current approach as too fragmented and too small. Measures like green roofs, rain gardens, and disconnected drainpipes help, but they cannot protect neighbourhoods like Pathmos on their own. Central coordination by the national government is lacking, the board says, and too much happens in "informal and non-binding settings" without concrete targets.
Legislation that would allow the KNMI (the Dutch meteorological institute) to issue early local weather warnings has also stalled.
What the OVV recommends
The board calls on the government to develop a targeted approach for the most vulnerable neighbourhoods. Possible measures include expanding sewer capacity, creating more water storage, and protecting power supplies and access to hospitals.
The cabinet should also make it easier to issue early weather warnings, share data on groundwater levels and stress tests more broadly, and set concrete requirements for climate-resilient housing and critical infrastructure.
"It's already a problem now," said OVV deputy chair Erica Bakkum. "It's happening more often, and there's a clear increase. Not everything can be prevented, but we need to work hard if we want to keep up."
The human cost in Enschede
The situation in Pathmos illustrates what happens when extreme rain meets vulnerable infrastructure. When the neighbourhood flooded in July 2024, residents were initially told the evacuation was temporary. But the sewage water that entered their homes left behind bacteria and mould that made the buildings unsafe to live in.
The housing corporation De Woonplaats eventually concluded that repairing the worst-affected homes would cost an average of €134,000 each, close to the property values themselves. Some residents refused to accept the termination of their rental contracts and fought to return, but the corporation argued it could no longer meet its obligations as a landlord given the ongoing flood risk.
By December 2025, De Woonplaats announced that 23 homes on the Pathmossingel would be repaired, 5 on the Warmoesstraat would be demolished, and decisions on 34 others were still pending. For many former residents, the wait continues with no certainty about when, or whether, they can return.
