The fire department in Zuid-Holland had their hands full with reports of flooded houses and cellars, caused by heavy rains during the early hours of Wednesday morning, ANP reports.
Alblasserwaard, with villages such as Alblasserdam and Molenaarsgraaf, in particular had many problems, local safety office Veiligheidsregio Zuid-Holland-Zuid said to ANP. The control room in nearby Hoeksche Waard also received many calls.
All Dutch provinces except Groningen saw economic growth last year, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Tuesday. Of the four large Dutch cities, Amsterdam saw the biggest growth at 3 percent, The Hague the lowest at 2.2 percent. Rotterdam had the highest unemployment rate in the Netherlands last year at 11.3 percent, far above the national unemployment rate of around 6 percent.
The emergency services network P2000 received a total of 1,327 reports about the storm and storm damage by 11:00 p.m. Tuesday night, the Volkskrant reports. The most reports came from the Rotterdam Rijnmond region, followed by Noord- and Oost Gelderland.
Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb again repeated his call for religious extremists in the Netherlands to "fuck off," while speaking at a service in a mosque. The mayor visited the Essalam Mosque Saturday night and made his remarks in front of 250 people gathered there.
The code yellow weather warning is still in effect across parts of the Netherlands on Sunday with high winds expected to take their toll for a third straight day. Wind speeds of 90 km/h along the coast and 80 km/h inland are expected.
A fire ravaged grease factory Aveno in Vlaardingen on Sunday, leaving little of the structure behind. The neighborhood is filled with the smell of soot and oil. A spillage from the factory leaves the embankment of the Koningin Wilhelmina harbor slick. The fire department declared that the fire was put out at around 2.30 a.m. this morning.
