stormy weather

during the storm, originally uploaded by Monkicat.

This time it's serious!

Wind Kracht 11 storm is raging out there outside the still standing wall of our house.
Although on the news they've been warning people not to go outside, or drive, they obviously don't count dog owners. In a "lull" around 13:00 this afternoon, I went out with Darwin and got pummeled with twigs and branches, and Darwin with his nose facing into the wind got blown over while trying to poo! No fun for him, but I thought it was funny.....
Other than the questioning look on his face when he tried to get up, he didn't seem to mind the roaring sound of the winds in the trees. No, Darwin had too much fun chasing flying sticks leaves and other debris! He wasn't on the line either because of my hand, and I was very happy and pleased that when I used the whistle to call him he came. At one point the wind gusts got so hard I had to seek refuge in one of the dug-outs on the football pitch! I was also tired. It's exhausting for me and this back of mine to plod through the park let alone in a wind storm!

On the way home I discovered that the large oak tree that normally looms over the play ground, couldn't hold against the winds and is now laying defeated on top of the climbing jungle and swings. it made me sad, such a big beautiful tree...
For Darwin it was like being in a candy store, more twigs and branches to play with!

We returned to the house just in time to watch sheets of rain smash against the windows. Ceara came in a few minutes later from the front door, dripping wet. It seems the school decided to close down - the public busses stopped driving because of the national weather and traffic alarm, and so all the parents were called to come pick up their children. In the meantime, almost all the major bridges in Rotterdam have been closed, Amsterdam Centraal Station had to be evacuated and shut down because of roof collapse, a huge construction crane fell on a building critically injuring 3 people, a car in Amsterdam had a tree fall on it with people inside, and so all over the country the storm is causing damage and chaos.

It'll clear tomorrow, and then we'll see what the damage has done.