Dutch law now requires municipalities to have a legal “duty of care” for rainwater. Devastating though Storm Chandra has been, it should not have come as a surprise. But we already knew this, and still Storm Chandra struck, with scant evidence of adaptation planning in most local authorities. In the Netherlands and Germany it is the first step in the intervention hierarchy to manage flood risk. [ Storm Chandra floods made three times more likely by climate changeOpens in new window ]

Source: The Irish Times February 03, 2026 16:17 UTC