Tweet
North Western Europe under attack
....well not really, but news about the stormfront over the north sea approaching the Netherlands sound quite dramatic since they closed Rotterdam harbour and activate those big storm-surge barriers:
Netherlands on full alert as big storm approaches
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
08 November 2007 04:37
Shipping traffic to and from Rotterdam harbour is expected to be suspended from 8pm GMT due to an approaching storm, a port spokesperson said on Thursday.
The suspension is expected to remain in place until 5pm GMT on Friday. The spokesperson said roughly 60 ships would be affected.
For the first time since its construction in the 1990s, a storm-surge barrier protecting Rotterdam and its harbour is expected to be closed due to the approaching storm. The barrier has previously only been shut for testing.
The spokesperson said the barrier was expected to close at 10pm GMT.
Dutch authorities put flood defences of the entire Dutch coast on alert on Thursday as the storm approached, leading to surging water levels, officials said.
Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported that it was the first time since 1976 that the whole coast had been put on alert.
A Transport Ministry spokesperson said the water level at the Hook of Holland was expected to rise to more than 3m above the mean sea level on Thursday night. The level would be second only to the great flood of 1953 when the water rose to 3,85m above sea level.
"The storm conditions are very similar to 1953," the ministry spokesman said. The government weather service forecast force-seven winds for parts of the Dutch coast.
In 1953, a massive North Sea storm breached the country's dikes, killing about 1 800 people. Two-thirds of The Netherlands would be permanently flooded but for an elaborate system of dikes and canals.
A ministry official told NOS he was confident the dikes would hold and added that the final decision to close the barrier would be made later on Thursday.
The massive Oosterschelde storm-surge barrier in the south of the country is expected to be shut as well. -- Reuters
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
08 November 2007 04:37
Shipping traffic to and from Rotterdam harbour is expected to be suspended from 8pm GMT due to an approaching storm, a port spokesperson said on Thursday.
The suspension is expected to remain in place until 5pm GMT on Friday. The spokesperson said roughly 60 ships would be affected.
For the first time since its construction in the 1990s, a storm-surge barrier protecting Rotterdam and its harbour is expected to be closed due to the approaching storm. The barrier has previously only been shut for testing.
The spokesperson said the barrier was expected to close at 10pm GMT.
Dutch authorities put flood defences of the entire Dutch coast on alert on Thursday as the storm approached, leading to surging water levels, officials said.
Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported that it was the first time since 1976 that the whole coast had been put on alert.
A Transport Ministry spokesperson said the water level at the Hook of Holland was expected to rise to more than 3m above the mean sea level on Thursday night. The level would be second only to the great flood of 1953 when the water rose to 3,85m above sea level.
"The storm conditions are very similar to 1953," the ministry spokesman said. The government weather service forecast force-seven winds for parts of the Dutch coast.
In 1953, a massive North Sea storm breached the country's dikes, killing about 1 800 people. Two-thirds of The Netherlands would be permanently flooded but for an elaborate system of dikes and canals.
A ministry official told NOS he was confident the dikes would hold and added that the final decision to close the barrier would be made later on Thursday.
The massive Oosterschelde storm-surge barrier in the south of the country is expected to be shut as well. -- Reuters
Comment