So, my parents just called to inform me about their city's disaster plan that was suddenly announced to them...

A little necessary backstory: my parents live in The Netherlands. They live in a city of the between 50k-100k inhabitants category, next to a highway, in an area that would flood with rising sea levels (province bordering the sea), but where nothing special has happened in their lifetimes so far. No earthquakes, no fires, nothing.

The Netherlands has a civil defense siren for disasters, and when it rings, the government advice is to remain where you are or get indoors if you aren't, to close all doors and windows, and to check the news station to see what's happening.

My parents told me they received a letter that explained the following: if a disaster were to strike, it's no longer the main plan to close your doors and windows and to remain where you are. If they get The Disaster Signal (no explanation what that would be) they now need to rush to their car.

From the area where they live, there is a small path meant for bicycles and pedestrians that leads to the highway. They need to rush their car over that path, to the highway.

The highway is blocked off from the bicycle path with a gigantic wall to minimize the car noise, but they've put a door in there that is just big enough so one car can pass at once. On top of the door is a new sign: disaster door. When The Disaster™ happens, the door will be opened. Everyone from that part of the city (at least 10k people) will have to enter the highway with their car through that door and flee.

They also told me that it was explained to them, that if someone doesn't have a car, they need to try to hitch a ride with someone else, or they'll have to call a certain number and the city might have someone pick them up.

I'm all sorts of confused. Are they expecting a disaster to happen for which you'll have to flee? If so, is it flooding? Does this mean they acknowledge climate change and are preparing for the worst (in a terrible way)? If everyone's rushing to their car, there will just be a massive traffic jam and nobody will reach that door in time for evacuation via that little bicycle path, right? And who's opening that door? Will people without a car really be picked up? What if sirens go off for something like a dangerous air pollutant, but everyone starts driving toward that door, like, how do they differentiate between possible disasters?

My parents got uncomfortable with any of my follow-up questions and just burst out laughing about how absurd it all is, and that I should "check the door" if I never hear from them again, and that if a person's time is up, it's just up and you die, nothing you can do about it, that's the way life goes. Sigh.

Anyway, does anyone have any experiences with or anecdotes about their area creating unexpected evacuation plans like this one? Have any of my Dutch readers had the same happen to them recently?

Can't think of any other explanation than that their city is preparing for a possible new watersnoodramp (North Sea flood of 1953) because they're in the general area of that. But to make it so inefficient and unclear... 🤔

#apocalypse #evacuation #DisasterPlanning