In the United States, the Dutch prepare for Storm Henri

Daniëlle van Rootselaar, 22, is from Utrecht but is currently studying at Brown University in Rhode Island. “The center of the storm is expected to invade us,” she told RTL Nieuws.

The necessary measures have been taken in his neighborhood: ‘”Almost all public places are now closed. The university has distributed emergency packages with food, so that we do not have to leave the house again. Yesterday I also wanted to buy some extra food in the supermarket, but almost all the shelves were already empty.

tropical storm

It used to be called a hurricane, but now Henri’s wind speed has decreased slightly, so it’s now called a tropical storm. “But the wind is not the biggest problem,” said Brian Verhoeven of Buienradar. “A huge amount of precipitation is expected, in some places more than 200 millimeters of rain.”

Henri is expected to peak in Rhode Island around 2 a.m. local time, but Danielle says the storm has already caused a lot of disruption. This morning, the whole street was already under water, even up to the knees. And the wind is blowing harder than ever in the Netherlands, I think a few trees will fall. “

The idea makes her quite nervous. “The power may just be out, and it could take days to get back to normal. My roommates are Americans, they’ve been through this before. They are a little less nervous than me. But the whole neighborhood is constantly on the lookout: this area has apparently not experienced such a big storm in 30 years. “

floods

And that’s a major problem, especially in big cities like New York. “Everything there is made of stone, concrete and buildings,” says Verhoeven. “Water can’t go anywhere. With such amounts of precipitation, you can count on significant flooding.

Images of flooding in parts of the city, mainly Brooklyn, are already circulating on Twitter:

Monique Nagelkerke (62) has been sailing around the world with her husband for five years and is currently in the port of Port Washington, about thirty kilometers from Manhattan. We were still with the boat in the Hudson last night, listening to a concert in Central Park. This is where the lockdown was over, with all kinds of great artists. But halfway through it was suddenly canceled because it started thundering. “

‘Unreal’

The couple have already prepared their boat completely for the storm. The mainsail is attached. Anything loose can move and the flap is hidden. The boat is as bare as possible.

Monique describes the current situation as unreal. “ For years we have sailed all over the world and have always managed to avoid severe storms. We are now at the end of our journey and you get this – in New York City for that matter. Even the inhabitants of here are amazed, they are not used to such scenes. “