We wish you a Merry Krampus!

Let’s get this out of the way first -  I promise, I didn’t do anything to deserve it!  I know, I know, that’s what they all say.  But there is no reason that Krampus should have singled us out for a visit on Christmas Eve.   Well, . . .  none that I can think of.  We’ve tried to be really really good this year, and avoided doing unlawful things like drive without a drivers license, or go on private property to take a photograph.  I don’t know caused it, but visit us he did.

Ann and I were doing what any older couple would do on a Christmas Eve without kids around - we were curled up on the couch watching a movie.  We were about an hour and a half into Indiana Jone’s latest when I heard the sound of water gushing out from somewhere (yeah, it’s a non-stop action flick so you can realize how disturbed I felt when realized I was hearing running water over the action!).  I hit pause and ran into the kitchen, expecting to see water gushing out of the dishwasher . . . nothing.  Still, the sound of water was out there.  Then I thought - the bathroom.  Again, as I ran around the corner, nothing.  Then I realized that the sound was coming from the basement door.  As I made my way down the steps to the basement I thought, “It really can’t be a burst frozen pipe, it isn’t even close to freezing.”  Well, I got to the bottom of the steps and this is what I saw.

Yeah, that’s a few inches of water on the ground, and it’s coming from the opening that leads under the house.  The water was pouring out in a stream from the cut in the concrete beneath the hole.  I pulled on my waterproof hiking boots and took a flashlight to look underneath.  Yes, there was a big puddle of water in an 18-inch channel between a couple of footers (beyond the other footer was dry), but I couldn’t see what the source of water was.  It didn’t seem like a pipe was busted.

I felt terrible.  It’s Christmas Eve and I had to call the landlord, Wim.  We chatted a bit and he says that’s happened before - 15 years ago.  He says he’ll be over in about half an hour.  I think about it and I start hauling buckets of water from the basement to the downstairs toilet.  I start by lowering the water in the channel by about 3 inches (to stop the water flowing onto the floor), and then I started on the floor.  I’m surprised, but I actually made a dent in the water level before Wim and his daughter Koko’s boyfriend arrive.

Wim arrived and inspected the basement.  Yup, he said that the news has been talking about the rising Rhein River and that it’s hit serious flood stages (13 m above sea level at our local measuring station).  He said not to bother with it because it’s supposed to go up to 15 meters in a couple of days, and then die down.  Trying to drain it now will be a fruitless effort.  He pulled out a pump for us to use later and suggested we go visit Tolkamer, the local dike control center on the Rhein.

With nothing more we could do, we went back to our movie.  By the time it was over (just over an hour later), the 3-inches I’d drained from the channel had filled and water was pouring into the basement floor again.  Wim was right to say we couldn’t stop it.

The next day, after a wonderful Christmas breakfast, Ann and I made a trip to Tolkamer.  They have a parking area and a place to walk along the river where ships dock.

Sure enough, the water gauge was showing 13 meters 80 centimeters.

The Rhein is wide at that point, but you could tell that the river was at a flood stage, both from looking at the trees on the far side that were under water and by looking at some of the boat ramps where water was starting to cover.

As we walked down the promenade, you could see that the Rhein was flowing very fast.

We hit the end of the promenade where there is an inlet that allows access to boats, but apparently is also used for flood control.  As you can tell, there were plenty of tree bases under water.

The promenade itself is a good reminder that this is the Netherlands (translation: low lands) and that any flooding in the region can be devastating.  So, yes, they are prepared for even greater flooding of the Rhein.

As we made our way back to the car, the occasional rain squall reminded us why the river was high.  We’d had a lot of rain lately, as had Germany, and all of Germany’s water passes through us on the way to the sea.

And on our way back we were given a reminder that, indeed, the analog scale in the river was correct.  See, you don’t need to go digital for everything.

As we got back to the car we had a not so subtle reminder about exactly what + 13.80 m meant.  This is at the fueling station (Shell, of course) at the dock area.  I guess the workers used the upper gangway to get to work this Christmas.

I guess Ann and I will have to swing by here during the summer to see what the normal river level is for the Rhein at Tolkamer.

As Wim explained on Christmas Ever, the flooding in the house isn’t flooding per se, it’s the rise of the groundwater level.  I knew that a river’s influence extends far beyond its surface waters, but look below to give you an idea of what this really means.  We’re almost 6 miles away from the Rhein and its water level affects our groundwater level.

The day after Christmas Ann and I took a walk and saw things in very different light.  We’d earlier noticed the high water levels on the drainage ways you see everywhere around here (read: The Netherlands).  It now made sense.  They are not irrigation canals, that’s the ground water level.  This shot is from just outside our driveway.  So yes, that’s about the level where that hole in our basement wall is.

Since it had finally stopped raining, Ann and I stopped to take a few more photos to show just what the high Rhein levels meant for us (indeed, without much more rain, the level of the Rhein continued to rise and the gushing basement water lasted for about 6 hours that day.  It has since stopped.).  Again, you can see the bases of trees, which are normally dry, are well underwater.

And . . . this is the groundwater level, not flooding in the normal sense of the word.

It’s died back already, so there’s no longer a pond in the field.  I guess it’s time to pull out the pump and drain the basement!

So thank you very much Mr. Krampus.  (Yes, that’s Rocket in the background saying, “You’re supposed to use your sarcastic voice!”).