Local residents of the Buitenpepers district in Den Bosch were surprised when they looked outside on Friday morning. Not the snow, but a large layer of water covered the streets of their neighborhood. A water pipe has burst, leaving hundreds of houses in the area without water. Gardens, playgrounds, cycle paths and lawns are flooded. “I see the humor in it. Outdoor peppers by the sea, I call it now,” says local resident Dick.
It was less fun on Friday morning for Yvonne van Roosmalen. The leak started in her neighbor’s garden. Her husband woke up around a quarter past five because he heard water flowing. “We couldn’t see anything because it was dark, but we heard the swirling,” she says. “The technician from Brabant Water had to come from far away, so it took a while before it was resolved. The water was able to flow for three hours,” she says.
It was an inch before the water entered her house. Yvonne calls it happiness. But her garden was seriously damaged by all the water. “There is a lot of sand, the fence is broken and the pond is flooded. There were about 45 fish in it, some were about fourteen years old. I think I’ve lost them.”
“I looked out the window and all I saw was water.”
Dick Slaa received a call early on Friday morning from his neighbor, who said that the neighborhood was flooded. “I looked out my window and only saw water, unimaginable,” says Dick, who walks through the neighborhood dressed in rain boots. “I heard the water bubbling from the Fifth Outside Peppers, that’s apparently where the problem was. It sounded like a fountain.”
His front yard and shed are flooded, but Dick’s house has remained dry. “The entire neighborhood was in an uproar. Everyone immediately went outside to discuss.” He can also see the humor in it, Dick says cheerfully. Although he has no water at home now either. “Luckily I was able to tap something this morning, so there is all the water in pans and buckets at home.
“That will stop today.”
Anette Vugts lives a little further away. For her, the nuisance was limited to the front garden and the shed. “I don’t mind that, the shed will dry out again,” she says. “The entire neighborhood is flooded, so I’m lucky.” She doesn’t like the fact that she has no water at home. “That is annoying for the toilet. That will stop today,” she says laughing.
Stans Sivré cannot yet fully understand what is happening in her neighborhood. “It’s so strange, so surreal,” she says, looking at the puddles of water around her. “We won’t have water until four o’clock this afternoon, which is unimaginable. Luckily I still had water in the kettle, so I was able to make coffee with it.”
Here’s a look at what the flooded neighborhood has looked like since Friday morning:
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Here you can read what Brabant Water says about the burst water pipe