Flooding and soaking Elfsteden cyclists due to downpours; More storms today
Cloudbursts in Friesland on Monday caused flooding and soaked participating cyclists in the Fietselfstedentocht. Some places in Groningen and Zuid-Holland also experienced flooding. More storms are expected on Tuesday afternoon and evening. The KNMI issued a code yellow warning for most of the country.
In the Friesland village of Buitenpost, a cloudburst caused 25 to 30 centimeters of water in some places, the local security office, Veiligheidsregio Fryslân, reported.
The ground floor of a residential care center in the village had to be evacuated, NOS reported. Over 20 residents were moved to another place in the building but were able to spend the night in their own beds again. The Veiligheidsregio set up a crisis center in that same residential care center to coordinate aid to the area.
The Fonteinen church in the village, where several Ukrainian refugees were sheltered, was also evacuated. They were taken to a shelter in Burgum by bus.
The province also got a lot of hail, causing slippery roads in some places. Some homes had large amounts of hail come up through the toilet bowl.
Earlier in the day, heavy showers soaked the 13,740 participants of the Fietselfstedentocht - the Eleven Cities Cycling Tour. The race was briefly stopped in two places because the weather was too bad. The organizers asked Friesland locals to let participants take shelter in their homes or sheds.
Lauwersoog in Groningen, about 30 kilometers north of Buitenpost, also experienced flooding. Visitors of the Northern Pentecost camp, the largest scouting camp in Europe, were trapped on the campsite for a time. The organizers later announced on Facebook that road plates had been placed and attendees could leave the site again. The scouting camp attracts a few thousand people every year.
According to RTL Nieuws, the large amounts of rain also caused flooding in Noordwijk, Zuid-Holland. Streets and tunnels were under water and part of the ceiling of the Sint Victorkerk in Noordwijkerhout collapsed.
Omroep West reported that in Noorden, in Zuid-Holland on the border with the province of Utrecht, lightning hit a house and caused a fire. It also caused a brief power interruption in the entire village.
The KNMI expects more thunderstorms in large parts of the Netherlands today, issuing a code yellow warning for everywhere except Groningen, Drenthe, Overijssel, Friesland, and the Wadden Islands.
Thunderstorms will start in the south during the second half of the afternoon and then spread to the center and west of the country. The storms may include downpours with over 30 mm of rain falling in an hour, hail stones up to 2 centimeters in diameter, and gusts of wind up to 70 kilometers per hour.
The code yellow warning first takes effect in Limburg at 3:00 p.m., followed by Noord-Brabant, Zeeland, and Gelderland at 5:00 p.m., Zuid-Holland and Utrecht at 6:00 p.m., and Noord-Holland, Flevoland, and the IJsselmeer area at 7:00 p.m. The storms should die down around midnight.
When it’s not storming, Tuesday will have lots of sunshine and a moderate wind from the north to east. Maximums will climb to around 25 degrees.
Wednesday will be a lot gloomier and colder, with only occasional sunshine and maximums around 19 degrees. There is a chance of showers, and the southwesterly wind will be moderate to strong.
