Alert for further storms

Stormy weather is forecast for the coming days. The wind will increase in strength on Thursday and Friday to stormy levels.
We also expect some rain. That is a lot of water, but not extreme amounts. 
The water board is on alert. Heavy rain and wind will cause water levels inland to rise. Our pumping stations are currently working to drain excess water to the large buffer: Lauwersmeer. We will hold the water there until we can drain the excess water to the sea. This will prevent flooding. We may need to discharge the excess water a few times in the coming days. We do not expect any problems.

Wind direction is difficult to predict.

The stormy wind is, as it were, swirling around the front. This makes it difficult to predict the wind direction. On Thursday, the KNMI expects a storm of 90 km per hour in our area. On Friday, the wind will be even stronger, with gusts of up to 100 km per hour. 

When the wind blows from the northwest, the chance of high tide at sea is greatest. This increases the likelihood that the water board will have to close the sluices at Delfzijl. The water board always receives a warning from Rijkswaterstaat 12 hours before the expected high tide. From that moment on, the water board (together with the neighboring Hunze en Aa's water board) will also communicate about this. It is still too early for that at this point.