The water level is rising in several places in the Netherlands due to the persistent December precipitation. While it seems that the water levels in Limburg, the water problem area par excellence, are not too bad on Christmas Day, in Zwolle the city canals fill up. “Right to the edge,” said Herald van Gerner, spokesperson for the Drents Overijsselse Delta Water Board (WDODelta). Not everyone kept their feet dry in Brabant, Gelderland, Drenthe and North Holland either.
“The water comes from all sides here, from the Vecht, the waterways. It is also against the dikes at the IJssel and the Vecht. The pumping stations are running at full speed. Farmlands are flooded, and here and there a cellar, cycle or footpath,” says Van Gerner. One hundred volunteers inspected the dikes between Zwolle and Kampen and the western part of the Overijsselse Vecht, which flows into the Zwarte Water.
The high water level is exceptional for this area in Overijssel. “A lot of rain and meltwater has come from Germany and so much rain fell in October and November that the soil has been soaked up like a sponge, it no longer absorbs anything. Every drop that falls remains on top. We expect another peak wave on the Vecht on December 28.”
The Union of Water Boards also closely monitors the situation surrounding high water in the rivers during the Christmas holidays. “It has been scaled up, especially in the east of the country,” says a spokesperson. “There are continuous dike inspections and weirs and culverts are checked so that the water can drain properly and the system continues to work.”
A grand café in North Brabant has become completely flooded. Het Wapen van Kaatsheuvel had to move the lunch of hundreds of guests to another catering establishment. The nuisance is said to have been caused by a pumping station that failed. Not much further away, Europarcs and a holiday park in Cromvoirt are struggling with high water.
IJsselmeer
North Holland is also struggling with the water. Quays and parking lots in Medemblik were flooded on Monday due to the high water level. This is the case in several places along the IJsselmeer.
Cars are parked in some parking lots. These can be reached, but drivers must take into account wet feet or wear boots. Parking the car on a dike saturated with water is not a good idea, because damage can occur.
The water in the IJsselmeer is currently rising higher than usual due to the heavy rainfall. Everything is closely monitored by the Water Board and Rijkswaterstaat. Many photos and videos of flooding are circulating on social media, for example flooded cellars or flooded streets and cycle paths.
Central Netherlands
120 Konik horses and Rode Geuzen (cattle) were brought to safety in Poederoijen, Gelderland, on Monday by emergency workers. They were transferred in the morning to the higher Wakkere Dijk of the Munnikenland, near Loevestein Castle.
The planned operation took about three hours, according to a press photographer present. “With storm Pia last Friday, the water was already on the high side. Then it dropped a bit before rising again next Thursday and Friday. To move the horses and cattle we would have to close the access road to Loevestein, while the castle was open to the public on Saturday and Sunday. It is closed on Christmas Day and we were also able to move the animals with more peace of mind,” says Tanja de Bode of Free Nature.
The water level will probably not drop anytime soon due to the weather forecast. Rijkswaterstaat has reported code orange around the IJsselmeer. “The discharge of the IJssel is currently approximately 970 cubic meters per second. This will increase further in the coming days to about 1,250 cubic meters per second on December 29.” The biggest bottleneck in the coming days will be the Rhine, due to the heavy rain in the catchment area, according to the Union of Water Boards. A peak of 14.90 meters above NAP is expected at Lobith on December 28. At that water level, for example, the Waalkade in Nijmegen floods.
‘Warm Christmas’
Although it may be wet, this Monday will go down as the third warmest Christmas day ever measured, according to Weeronline. In De Bilt it was 12.5 degrees on Monday. Only in 2015 (14 degrees) and 1997 (12.8 degrees) was it warmer on December 25. The top 10 with warmest Christmas holidays now includes five years from this century.
There was a lot of cloud today and it rained regularly, especially in the south. The highest temperature was measured in Volkel (North Brabant), where it was 13.0 degrees.
Weeronline expects Boxing Day to be another mild day, but the temperature in De Bilt is slightly lower than Monday at 10 to 11 degrees. The average maximum temperature over both Christmas days will then be around 11.5 degrees. This will probably make it the fourth warmest Christmas ever measured. The warmest Christmas ever was in 2015 with 14.0 degrees on first Christmas day and 14.4 degrees on the second.