Alert for further storms

The forecast calls for stormy weather in the coming days. Winds will vigour on Thursday and Friday, reaching gale vigour .
We also expect some rain. That’s a lot of water, but the amounts aren’t extreme. 
The water authority on alert. With heavy rain and wind, water levels inland will rise. Currently, our pumping stations are operating pumping stations discharge excess water into the large reservoir: the Lauwersmeer. We’ll hold the water there until we can discharge the excess water into the sea. This is how we prevent flooding. We may need to discharge the excess water a few times over the next few days. We don’t expect any problems.

Wind direction is difficult to predict

The stormy winds are swirling around the front, as it were. This makes it difficult to predict the wind direction. On Thursday, the KNMI forecasts winds of 90 km/h in our area. On Friday, the winds will be even stronger, reaching up to 100 km/h at times. 

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