12.00 The situation is very critical
13.00 New areas have to be evacuated. The evacuation of the Tieler- and
Culemborgerwaard including the villages Tiel and Culemborg has been
sped up, people have to be out by this evening. The Waaldijk in Ochten
is about to breach (this area is being evacuated).
The Waaldijk near Hurwenen in the Bommelerwaard is also damaged, but this
area has already been evacuated.
14:00 In the southern parts of Limburg the level of the water is dropping
again (a little!) so the worst moments seem to be over.
Some parts of the city of Gorinchem have to be evacuated (Laag-Dalem,
Wijdschild and Linge-III) and Dalem. Also Boven-Hardinxveld. The
Merwededijk is developing cracks.
Inhabitants of Varik are urged to evacuate too since the dyke is
overflowing, there is no risc of a direct breach.
16:00 No real updates.
17:15 Estimated probability of a breach in the dyke near Ochten is 50%.
11:00 No real changes in the status of the dykes. The evacuation of the
Tieler- and Culemborgerwaard is going very well. The first inhabitants
of Limburg are able to return to their homes.
Work on the dykes near Ochten and Hurwenen is continuing.
<8P>
13:00 Evacuations are going well and are complete in most areas. The water
hasn't risen as far as was predicted so the probability of dike-breaches
is less.
15:30 The level of the Rijn near Lobith (where it enters the Netherlands)
is dropping slowly.
The total number of evacuated people is now 240000.
The danger of a dyke-breach near Nijmegen is increasing again because of the
changes in water-level (the clay dikes have soaked up a lot of water and can
become instable). The evacuated people will probably not return before the
end of the weekend.
The same problem is also occuring at the dykes around the Tieler-
and Culemborgerwaard.
The Alblasserwaard and Vijfherenlanden will not be evacuated. This has been
decided this morning.
The threat on Kampen has decreased since the wind has not pushed the amount
of water from the Ijsselmeer into the Ijssel which was expected.
10.30 The dropping of the water level has not caused the expected problems last night. The dykes haven't breached yet, but still there is serious danger. The water level of the Rijn near Lobith and the Maas are still dropping slowly. In the Tieler- and Culemborgerwaard about 550 police men have been guarding the deserted homes. Still four homes in that area have been broken into. The army is working on the dykes at the Kanaal van Steenenhoek. The inhabitants of Gorichem-Oost are not able to return to their homes until Tuesday next. Last night a national Dutch TV-show collected 66 million dutch guilders (about $ 33 million) to help people in the endangered areas.
12.30 In Limburg (the southern region) more and more peolpe return to their homes. The 2,300 inhabitants in Roermond can return to their homes today. The evacuees from Arcen have to wait until monday. The national government is preparing plans for the large-scale return of the peolpe in the Tieler- en Bommelerwaard. They warn peolpe not to return until they tell them so, they have also warned some local authorities not to make promises they can't keep. There's still danger of breaching dykes. The weather is cloudy, but dry.
16.00 Due to hard manual labor (filling sandbags to strenghten the dykes) and the good weather the dykes are still holding. The water is still dropping slowly. Farmers in the evacueted areas are allowed to feed the cattle. They need special permits to do so. Many people and companies have lost millions of dollars due to the damage and loss of income. Navigation on the Maas at Borgharen is allowed again. Weather forecast for tonight: slight rain. The danger has decreased, the dyke prevention continues. People of the Tieler-, Culemborger- and Bommelerwaard and parts of the Ooypolder and Het Land van Maas en Waal have to stay evacuated until further notice.
Short update since things have changed (for good). I'm typing this from home.
11.00 Since saturday morning peolpe from the Land van Maas en Waal and Ooypolder can return to their homes. Since saturday moring peolpe in the Culemborgerwaard, Bommelerwaard, Tielerwaard and the cities Maurik, Lienden, Kesteren and Echteld can return to their homes. Peolpe in Gorinchem-Oost and Boven-Hardinxveld still have to stay evacueted.
So far, return traffic hasn't caused any really traffic pproblems yet, although roads are busy.
15.00 This afernoon it has been decided that people in Gorinchem-Oost and Boven- Hardinxveld can return to their homes tomorrow (monday) at 8:00. Then, the evacuation will be over.
12.00 The floading threat is over. Damages are being calculated (hundreds of millions of dollars). The Dutch people discuss the renual of the dykes, to prevent an evacuation on this large-scale from happening again. This closes our latest-news reports. If you have comments please don't hesitate to send them to us (you will find our mail adresses in the previous page), so we know if we should makes WWW-pages like this, or other events in the Netherlands, in the future.
Danny Engelman, Koos van den Hout and Moniek Meissen.