Mother Nature

Things were a bit dramatic here over the past day.

You remember this picture from my trip to Zeeland?



Well, it turns out they build those flood gates, which are found in various locations all around the country, for a reason.

Dutch port authorities prepared to close Europe's largest harbor in Rotterdam to defend against storm surges predicted for later Thursday, officials said.

Coastal authorities were put on the highest weather alert since 1976.

If forecasts of 4-meter-high (13-feet) surges and winds of 100 kph (60 mph) prove true, the new Maeslant Barrier protecting the mouth of Rotterdam Port will close for the first time under storm conditions, Traffic and Water Ministry spokeswoman Cleo Vissers said. That would halt all ship traffic.

The storm was not expected to breach any of the dikes and dunes that protect the Netherlands, where more than two-thirds of the 16 million population lives below sea level.

Jan Kroos, spokesman of the Storm Flood Warning Service, told NOS state television that people should not be too worried. "We presume our water defenses will do what they're supposed to do," he said.

Hans told me that this is the highest water levels the country has seen in fifty years. As Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans showed us, things can get pretty nasty when you combine high water levels with large populations living below sea level.

Fortunately:

Ten-metre-high waves beat the North Sea coast of the Netherlands overnight, but damage caused by the storm remained limited. The association of insurance companies VvV said on Friday the damage due to the storm was "limited" and estimated it at no more than 500,000 euros (736,000 dollars).

[...]

The harbour of Vlieland, one of the northern islands in the North Sea, flooded Friday morning. Flooding also occurred in Terschelling and Ameland, two other islands in the North Sea.

Strong winds of 100kph are not exceptional for this time of the year in the Netherlands, but it is the combination of wind direction, rain and a seawater level that was already high prior to the storm that caused the state of alert.

In Harlingen, a town bordering on the north-east coast of the country, the seawater level rose to 3.4 metres above the so-called New Amsterdam Waterlevel (NAP), the standard used to establish the altitude of the water.

Near Rotterdam, the level stood at 2.84 metres above NAP while in Zeeland, in the south-west, the sea level rose to 3.43 metres, the third highest level since the Delta water defence system in the Zeeland province has been built.

Late Thursday night, all Dutch water defence systems along the North Sea coast, such as the Maeslant and Hartel defence systems near Rotterdam, had been automatically closed due to the high water level.