It’s sink or sink on Monday morning at the Zandleij Landgoed recreation park in Cromvoirt. Due to the heavy rainfall, the water reaches the front door of the houses at the back of the park. “We are located about a meter lower than the houses at the front,” says Henk Fievez. A little later it turns out to be the best solution to dig a large trench towards the ditch to get rid of all that water, resulting in considerable havoc in the garden.
Resident Marianne Uiterwaal was one of the first to discover what had caused all the rain. “I woke up at half past six by a bang, that’s what it sounded like,” she says. “I have tarps on my patio so I thought they were down, but it turned out my pool has come up.”
In her backyard you can indeed see that the built-in bath has been pushed up quite a bit. “I’m afraid it’s completely gone, luckily the water isn’t inside the house.” Uiterwaal is one of the residents who is allowed to live in the park permanently.
After that unpleasant discovery, she went out into the street to ring the doorbells of others. It was then quickly concluded that heavy artillery had to be used. “I said: just call the fire brigade and we will start pumping.”
“They are also here at Christmas”
For more than two hours they tried to pump the water towards the ditch, but there seemed to be no end in sight. While the water flows through the fire hoses, Marianne hands out coffee to the fire brigade people. “They are also here at Christmas, for us. Then you also have to make sure there is something tasty.”
Despite the efforts of the fire brigade, it seems impossible to remove the water. To prevent them from having to work for hours, it was decided that the water would best drain through Henk Fievez’s garden, the lowest point in the park. He has lived in the park for thirty years. “Luckily my house is set back from the ground so it doesn’t get in.”
In no time, an excavator has been arranged and troops have arrived to help pull the tiles from Henk’s garden. About half an hour later, his garden is completely open and the water is finally flowing away. His chalet now resembles a castle, with a moat around it.
“They will soon bring a boat”
The 85-year-old resident is jokingly addressed as ‘the lord of the castle’, now that there is a well-filled moat around his house. “They’ll be bringing a boat soon,” he jokes back. Despite the misery, the atmosphere is good, but when you look at Henk’s house, there is little to laugh about. Tears well up in his eyes. “We have never experienced this before,” he says.
When his paved garden was opened, pipes were also damaged. The water pipe can easily be capped, but the sewer also seems to be affected. So Henk has no water, but he will still have to make do for a while. Fortunately, a house a few doors away is not rented and he can use the bathroom there temporarily. “Then you will take a shower there and come and have a nice meal with me,” Marianne concludes.
