Lots of rainwater, a malfunction at the sea locks and North Sea water that threatens the city. According to managers and directors at the water board, things were over for Amsterdam yesterday. Only the closing of fourteen locks and flood barriers, an operation that has not been carried out for twenty years, could save the city from more nuisance. The residential areas on the IJ, such as the Houthavens, could not benefit from this – there the water came up to the bedroom windows.
Water in Houthavens came up to the windows – NH News
Rain for days, followed by a storm. All hands are on deck at the Amstel, Gooi and Vecht Water Board this week. And water system manager Maarten Ouboter and his colleagues do not know what they see on Thursday when they see the water levels of the IJ changing rapidly. The water level, which should drop, is not dropping. It’s rising. And fast too.
“The Sea Came In”
“All rainwater in and around the city normally flows via the IJ towards IJmuiden,” Ouboter explains. “There it is discharged into the North Sea at low tide through so-called drainage shafts.” Everything goes according to the book. But after draining, those tubes no longer close. And then the tide comes in.
“Due to a fault they remained open. The sea came in for a number of hours.” It can happen that a wave of seawater moves towards Amsterdam.
Closed off from the IJ
Rijkswaterstaat has already informed the water board. The canals of Amsterdam are being closed off from the IJ at breakneck speed. “We closed fourteen flood defenses and locks. Normally this takes six hours. We did that in three hours on Thursday,” says Ouboter.
It is an operation that has to be carried out for the first time in twenty years. If this is not done, the canal water will flow into the streets through the sewers. According to Ouboter, the city has been spared significant damage and inconvenience.
Water up to the window frame
However, the Houthavens in West are not behind lock doors. On Thursday afternoon, the water from the IJ reaches a few centimeters below the window frames. “My wife is in the app groups, so it passed me by a bit,” admits Houthaven resident Tom Nelsy. “But looking back, it was indeed quite exciting.”
In his son Frank’s bedroom, located in the basement, you can see that the water had already receded considerably on Friday morning. “But yesterday it was up to the window frame,” says Nelsy. “It really made a difference by centimeters.”
“We warned about this”
Bea de Buisonjé is on the executive board of the water board and is happy that the Houthavens have fared well. “But we have warned about this. In the past, no good choices were made in the construction of the Houthavens.” However, according to De Buisonjé, her and her colleagues’ concerns have been ignored. “We said: raise the level, because it is necessary.” The water board hopes that ‘more sensible choices’ will be made in future neighborhoods around the IJ, such as the large-scale Haven-stad project.
‘Ready for the future’
A spokesperson for the municipality says that residents do not have to worry. “The houses in the timber ports are waterproof up to 80 centimeters above NAP. That is a conscious choice, with a view to climate change. We also take this into account when constructing other neighborhoods to be built.”
In any case, Tom Nelsy and his family are not worried. “It is wonderful to live here on the water. And I hope and expect that Dutch expertise will keep us dry in the coming years.”