All five major storm surge barriers will be closed today due to the storm and the elevated water levels. That has never happened before! The Maeslantkering and the Hartel Barrier are the last two flood defenses that will close today. You can follow this impressive engineering feat live right here:
The last time the Maeslantkering was closed was in 2007, so this is pretty special. The storm itself though seems to be calming down a bit though, so for all of you who need to land or depart from Schiphol tonight – things are looking good.
#Uniek: Al onze vijf grote stormvloedkeringen sluiten vandaag! Dat is nog nooit eerder voorgekomen. De #Maeslantkering en de #Hartelkering zijn de laatste twee keringen die vanwege de storm en de verhoogde waterstanden dicht gaan. pic.twitter.com/jig5fzCU8K
— Rijkswaterstaat (@Rijkswaterstaat) 3 januari 2018
Liked this? Yeah you did, here are 4 (!) more epic videos on the Dutch and the Deltaworks.
Misleading.
The title implies that the storm was so bad that closing the barriers was a requirement. It was not. The closing of all barriers was performed as a test and not as a response to the ferocity of the storm.
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