North Holland licks its wounds: ‘There was a real crisis’

Haarlem

Haarlem was perhaps hardest hit by what is called ‘the heaviest summer storm ever’. In the Marnixstraat a 51-year-old woman was killed after the car, in which she was a co-driver, was hit by a falling tree. Throughout the city, trees fell and roads became impassable.

In the Molijnstraat, no fewer than six trees were knocked down. Text continues below the video

Amsterdam

The damage caused by storm Poly is also enormous in Amsterdam. Countless trees fell in the capital and public transport came to a complete standstill.

Two houseboats were hit by fallen trees on the Keizersgracht in the center of the city. Text continues below the video

In the west of the city, on the Gillis van Ledenberchstraat, a cyclist crawled through the eye of the needle when he was just missed by a falling tree. Text continues below the video.

Alkmaar

Summer storm Poly also left its mark in Alkmaar. On the A9 motorway, one of the main traffic arteries in the province, it rained trees and fallen branches, making the road impassable. The highway is therefore still closed and, according to Rijkswaterstaat, the clean-up work can ‘still take hours‘. Text continues below the photos

Beach houses blew away at the beach of Egmond. The wind was so strong at the sea that some houses were even blown to pieces. The beach is therefore littered with stuff.

IJmond

Wind force 11 was measured in IJmuiden this afternoon, with wind gusts of more than 145 kilometers per hour. This makes storm Poly the heaviest summer storm ever recorded.

As with the beach in Egmond, there is also a lot of damage to beach houses at the beaches in IJmond. The building of the rescue brigade in Wijk aan Zee was not spared either. Text continues below the video

Amstelland

The broken branches and falling trees flew around you this morning at the Amsterdamse Bos. It was life-threatening said a spokesperson. “Crisis, there really is a crisis. We would prefer to close the forest, but that is easier said than done.” Text continues below the photos

In Aalsmeer, the Ophelialaan was particularly successful. Several trees were blown over. The road was difficult to pass and even closed to traffic for a while.

Zaanstreek-Waterland

Due to the storm, the backdrop for the celebration of 450 years of the Battle of the Zuiderzee threatens to collapse. The organization is with man and power working on repairs. The city gates are in any case propped up, many other pieces of scenery have been blown to pieces. Text continues below the photos

Poly also had a good house in the rest of the region. A fallen tree has fallen on a roof in the Kepplerstraat in Zaandam South. It is not yet known if anyone was injured as a result.

A tree also blew over in Krommenie. Text continues below the video

Due to a major power outage, we were sitting or sitting thousands of households without power. There were major problems in Purmerend in particular. About 25,000 Purmerenders had no electricity there this morning.

The outage in Purmerend has now been resolved, but areas in Alkmaar, Heerhugowaard, Krommenie, Uitgeest, Kortenhoef, Bergen, Bovenkarspel and Bussum are currently still without power. In total, this concerns about 400 households, according to Liander. All because of storm Poly.

West Friesland

In Enkhuizen, about twenty houses on Nassaustraat were evacuated by the fire brigade because of falling branches. It is not yet clear when residents will be allowed to return. Text continues below the video

The rescue brigade in Hoorn was asked to provide extra help by the brigade of Marken. Several holiday homes in Monnickendam had sailed through storm Poly. Due to the strong gusts of wind, it was quite a job to get the ten people who stayed in the houses safely ashore.