Awaiting the storm and springtide

As the afternoon goes by, everyone here in Flanders is listening to the news. A big storm is coming - it has already caused havoc in Scotland and Norway - and it will also hit Holland and Belgium. Especially the coast and all the town inland along the Schelde. As Dendermonde is also having tidal water, we may expect the high rise of the stream and (hopefully not) some floodings.

This storm is to be compared with the one in 1953, when nearly the whole of Holland and parts of Belgium were under water. Also in my town a dike broke and I can still remember my grandma and mother telling about it. They heard the water coming as the dike broke (which was kilometers away from our house). In the few minutes they had, they managed to fill some sacks of coal and grab some food and ran upstairs. My mother was just married and grandma had given her a stove because she wanted to have a baby soon (well, it took her four years to have me) and the little one should have some warmth when sleeping in its cot.

They were ever so lucky to have warmth, because before you knew it, the water entered the downstairs of our house. It came up to 1,5 meter and when you know where to look, you can still see the watermark on the walls of our living room. They were isolated for a couple of days, and when the water went, it was pure misery to see the downstairs. The mud was everywhere and it took days for my mum and grandma to clean it up. As they had a good insurance and money in the bank, they did not have any problems getting new stuff and repairing what needed to be repaired. But others weren't so lucky.

Let's hope this storm won't cause too much misery!!!