It is all hands on deck for Staatsbosbeheer after the heavy thunderstorms on Friday night. “I expect that we will continue to be busy with the clean-up work all week,” says spokesperson Hans Alting. Trees fell in many places.
At the same time, he warns nature lovers to avoid the forests for the time being. “Loose branches can still suddenly come down.”
Dozens of reports of storm damage were received by the Drenthe fire brigade on Friday night and during the day on Saturday, spread across the province. These are mainly reports of trees on roads or on cars or buildings, for example.
But many dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of trees were also destroyed in Drenthe’s nature. “Many trees have been destroyed in the forests near Grolloo, Schoonloo and Hooghalen, among others, and this also applies to the Gieten – Borger forestry,” says Hans Alting.
According to him, work is also still being done to repair storm damage at the Dwingelderveld. “It now appears that the cycle paths in our areas are now free. This does not yet apply to all walking paths,” says the spokesperson for Staatsbosbeheer.
Alting therefore takes into account that the clean-up work will take some time: “And then the heat may also play tricks on us this week.”
In the Drenthe areas of Natuurmonumenten, the damage appears to be less than expected, says spokesperson Fred Prak. This mainly concerns sites on the southwest side of the province.
“I have spoken to the forest rangers of the Drents Friese Wold, the Leggelderveld and the Dwingelderveld and according to them it is not too bad. Of course, these forest rangers were also busy with fallen trees yesterday, but it does not involve enormous quantities,” says Prak.
Fallen trees caused several problems in various places during the night from Friday to Saturday. A 25-year-old motorist from Joure was killed near ‘t Haantje when a tree landed on her car.
In Hollandscheveld a tree fell on a party tent. Ten people became trapped under the canvas of the tent, but were not injured. And train traffic between Meppel and Assen was halted for hours due to a tree on the track.
