Severe weather causes nuisance, water pumped away in Doetinchem hospital

NOS News•yesterday, 20:38•Amended yesterday, 23:02

Heavy rain and thunderstorms have caused inconvenience in the south and east of the country. In various places in North Brabant, Limburg and Overijssel streets were flooded and there was also a lot of inconvenience in Gelderland. The disaster plan was announced in the Slingeland Hospital in Doetinchem.

The KNMI had already predicted that it could really go wild in the east of the country. For nine provinces, code yellow was in effect for a large part of the evening due to heavy rain and thunderstorms. The showers moved northwards across the country.

Images circulating on the internet show how water flowed into the Slingeland Hospital. The entrance to the emergency room was blocked off with sandbags and an attempt was made to remove the water using a pump. Hospital staff tried to prevent the water from flowing in further using mops and brooms.

It was a few centimetres of water and emergency patients were temporarily referred to other hospitals in the area. The water has now disappeared in most places and it is now being assessed which areas need to be disinfected again. The emergency department was closed for some time and has now reopened.

These are images of the nuisance:

Streets under water due to storms

Due to the storm, a tree also fell on the track near Doetinchem. Train traffic between Arnhem and Winterswijk was at a standstill for some time.

The Overijssel village of Raalte was also hit by heavy downpours this evening. The fire department has completely closed the centre to traffic. Residents of various homes were helped to pump the water out of their homes.

The sewer in Raalte could not drain the amount of rainwater and the sewage water flowed into the streets. The same happened in Hardenberg according to RTV Oost.

Earlier in the day, several streets in Kerkrade in Limburg were flooded by a cloudburst. Shop owners put sandbags in front of their doors in an attempt to keep the water out. Reports of flooded streets also came from Maastricht, and storm damage occurred in Sittard.

In Arcen, several streets were flooded due to a cloudburst. The fire department came to help. At a supermarket, the water ran inside and the doors had to be closed earlier, writes L1 Nieuws.

Eindhoven also had a lot of rain in a short period of time: 14 millimeters in about 20 minutes, according to inquiries at Weerplaza by Omroep Brabant. Manhole covers came loose and cars got stuck because streets were flooded. The sewer system also overflowed in several places.

A little further on, in Valkenswaard, there was also a lot of nuisance. An entire neighbourhood was flooded and residents closed off roads on their own initiative with cars, signs and garbage bins.