Flooding forces Dutch to evacuate

A mass evacuation is taking place in the north of the Netherlands where heavy rains risk flooding a number of villages.

Dutch soldiers and police began the operation early this morning. Hundreds of people have been moved from their homes in and around the province of Groningen after days of downpours.

Moving residents is the first priority but emergency teams are also working hard to move thousands of cattle left on farms.

Leaking inland dykes have allowed high water to enter parts of the town despite the presence of thousands of sandbags.

“It’s not nice, we had to leave at 3am. We heard a helicopter flying over and then we heard a knock on our door. “Woman! Wake up! You have to go” and we were told to leave,” complained one evacuee.

Parts of the historical city centre of Dordrecht in the southwest are also flooded but authorities say the water there is slowly retreating.

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