Thousands of people fled their homes in the south of the Netherlands on Friday (July 16th) when the water level rose and it broke through the dam and flooded the cities.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced a national catastrophe in the southern province of Limburg, which is sandwiched between heavily flooded areas in western Germany and Belgium.
Authorities were preparing to evacuate much of Venlo on Friday afternoon and ordered residents of the small municipality of Meyers to leave their property.
Flooding in Maastricht so far. Two neighborhoods need to evacuate on right side of river. High tides expected tonight so will get worse. #maastricht #limburg #flooding pic.twitter.com/7zX8W2YBm6
— Zoe Elliott | Together In Transit & Mama Ginger (@Tog_in_transit) July 15, 2021
“There is a big hole in the dam … Leave your house immediately and go to a safe place,” emergency services in Meyersen said in an online alert. Families were told to turn off electricity and gas.
Much of the Netherlands is below sea level and is protected by a complex system of ancient dams and modern cement barriers that hold water from the sea and rivers.
Later, the military managed to strengthen the dam near the city of Meyers, they reported L1 to the regional security authority, but the evacuation order remained in force.
Hundreds of firefighters and soldiers have been deployed to help strengthen other dams and evacuate residents.
In Valkenburg, near the Belgian and German borders, floods engulfed the city center, forcing the evacuation of several homes for the elderly and destroying at least one bridge.
According to local authorities, the water level in the Meuse and Ruhr has already reached record levels on Thursday, surpassing the levels that led to major floods in 1993 and 1995.