How the Dutch Decided ‘Never Again’: Lessons from the Delta Works”
How the Dutch Decided ‘Never Again’: Lessons from the Delta Works” “Never Again”: What a Day at Neeltje Jans Taught Me About Courage, Coastlines, and Cleaning Up Our Seas From the storm room to the storm surge barrier, how a small country decided to out‑think the ocean. In a world hypnotized by AI headlines, it’s easy to forget the miracles people built with grit, math, and mud on their boots. I spent a day on Neeltje Jans, the man‑made work island in Zeeland that became the public face of the Netherlands’ Delta Works . Inside the Delta Experience , a door slammed, wind screamed, rain hammered the windows, and in seconds I was in 1953: a child alone in a room, the water rising. The simulator cranked the wind to over 130 km/h and, for a moment, history was not a date but a force pressing on my chest. ( Deltapark Neeltje Jans ) That night in January 1953 , a North Sea storm pushed water into the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, and 1,836 people in the Netherlands died. 9% of Dutc...
