Large parts of Amsterdam without power; Only call 112 for extreme emergencies

A great deal of the city of Amsterdam was without power on Monday morning as strong gusts of wind from Storm Isha blew past the capital. At least 68,000 households were without power, and many of the city’s tram lines and stoplights were not functioning. Electricity grid operator Liander said at about 10 a.m. that they were working hard to complete repairs, roughly 90 minutes after the problems began.

“There was a major power outage in Amsterdam this morning. Liander technicians have started repair work. Almost all homes and businesses in the affected area now have power restored,” Liander said in a statement shortly after 10 a.m.

The power outage affected much of the city center, and the city’s west and southwest neighborhoods. The outage also hit further, encompassing Sloterdijk and the import train station hub there.

The regional security office, Veiligheidsregio Amsterdam-Amstelland, urged locals to only call the 112 number for the emergency services in an actual emergency and not to report that their power is out. The security office escalated the handling of the power outage to a Grip 1 regional emergency. That happens when an incident requires a response from multiple emergency services. In such a case, all responding personnel coordinate under a single commander.

Amsterdam was not the only city affected by a power outage. There were electricity problems also reported nearby in Amstelveen, Hilversum, Nieuw-Vennep, and Zevenaar. Regions further west and further north were also impacted following the storm, including Castricum, Ede, and Hoorn. Additionally, Liander said it was tackling problems elsewhere in the Netherlands, like Apeldoorn, Den Oever, Leiden, Sneek, and Zoeterwoude.

Many of the repairs were expected to be completed by the early afternoon. However, hundreds of homes in Duiven and Duivendrecht could find themselves in the dark until 4 p.m.

The power outage halted almost all of the trams running through Amsterdam. By 10:00 a.m., the Amsterdam public transport company GVB reported that trams 4, 14, 24, 25, and 26 were running again on their regular routes. Trams 1, 13, and 17 were running between Surinameplein, Matterhorn, Dijkgraafplein, and Lambertus Zijplein. Tram 2 was running between Hoofddorpplein and Nieuw Sloten. And the Zaandam ferry was sailing again. The other trams were still offline.

Commuters should also expect some difficulty on certain railway lines at least until 11 a.m., according to ProRail. Leiden could be particularly difficult to reach. ProRail said fewer Intercity trains would be able to take passengers between Amsterdam and Haarlem, and also between Haarlem and Leiden. A defective train also cut down on the number of trains able to run the route between Leiden and Den Haag.

The outage also affected Sloterdijk station. The gates weren’t working, so travelers couldn’t check in or out. It was also impossible to buy train tickets at the machines.