A short but heavy cloudburst caused a lot of flooding in Haren on Saturday afternoon. There were also no trains running between Groningen and Assen for hours.
Firefighters closed several streets around 4 a.m. for safety reasons. Manhole covers also came up. By 5:30 a.m., most of the water had drained and the streets reopened.
It is not known exactly how much water has fallen in a short period of time.
Residents reported on Twitter that toilets no longer flushed due to the large amount of water.
Eight passengers temporarily stuck on platform
At the train station, the Bradetunnel was filled with water, making part of the station inaccessible for some time. The municipality has pumped the water away.
Eight passengers were briefly detained on the platform. The fire service escorted them safely across the track via the railway.
Track possibly subsided
No trains ran between Groningen and Assen until 5:30 p.m. Part of the track is said to have subsided, but according to an NS spokesperson on site everything was in order.
Train passengers were temporarily transported between Groningen and Assen with stopping buses and between Haren and Haren Transferium with taxi vans.
NS expects train traffic to run according to schedule around 6 p.m.
Also flooding in Winschoten and Emmen
Reports of flooding after heavy rain showers were also received from Winschoten and Emmen. For example, a water pipe burst on the Nautilusstraat in Emmen.
The KNMI previously announced code yellow for Groningen due to ‘severe thunderstorms’.