NL plagued by severe weather

By Maxime Zech on July 28, 2014 - 15:52
Flooding
. (Someone in Amsterdam is enjoying the flooding. Source: Twitter/FinchAboutTown)

The Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) has issued a code orange for extreme weather in North and South Holland as well as North Brabant and Utrecht. The rain and thunderstorms in these areas can be very disruptive and even dangerous. Overnight, a lot of rain fell across the country, and more bad weather is expected for the rest of the day. 

Some places have already experienced 40 mm of rainfall this morning, Weeronline reports. Reports of flooding have come from Amsterdam, Heerenveen, Ter Aar, Nieuwkoop, Waddinxveen, Kaatsheuvel, Almere, Weesp and Bussem among other places.

In Alphen aan den Rijn, a dike is in danger of collapsing. A large part of the area Ridderveld in the city is under threat of flooding, as the Dijksloot river is overflowing. Residents of Ridderveld are banding together to lay sandbags next to the Dijksloot.

Residents are advised to move their belongings to the second floor and to move their cars as the water has been flowing over the existent dike for hours, the Algemeen Dagblad reports. If the dike breaks, the water in the Ridderveld neighborhood could stand a meter high, the fire department warns. In 12 hours' time, 110 millimeters of rain fell in Alphen aan den Rijn, making it the area most affected by the rain.

In the rest of the country, reports of flooding are streaming in with the municipalities as well as the emergency services. In Amsterdam, the fire department has been busy all morning with pumping excess water out of cellars. Some trams are not running in Amsterdam because the excess water reached the safety nets of the trams, making them stop automatically.

In Tilburg Noord and Haaren, around 16,000 households were without electricity for almost two hours.

Dozens of flights departing from Schiphol have been cancelled, and others delayed. These flights are mostly within Europe. Several highways, including the A10-West at Geuzenveld, the A15 between Ridderkerk and Gorinchem and the A22 at the Velsertunnel were closed off.

Train traffic in Noord-Brabant is heavily disrupted. Traffic between Den Bosch and Tilburg was not possible due to a lightning strike.

The weather will improve during the night, and the skies will clear up tomorrow. The sunshine will be back in most areas, and it will be between 24 and 27 degrees.

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