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Dutch, British coasts braced for storm, flooding

HEADLAND NEAR ROZENBURG, Netherlands (Reuters) - The Netherlands and Britain, facing the worst flood threat in decades, closed surge barriers and evacuated people from homes on Friday as a North Sea storm threatened to inundate low-lying areas.

Authorities compared the approaching conditions to those in 1953 when floods killed more than 2,000 people in both countries.

The massive storm surge barrier near the Dutch port city of Rotterdam was closed for the first time since its construction in the 1990s.

At 11 p.m. (5 p.m. EDT) on Thursday, the two arc-shaped steel doors of the Maeslant barrier edged into the waterway that connects Rotterdam to the North Sea.

As spectators braved rain and wind to watch from a narrow headland, it took about half an hour for the two doors to meet in the Nieuwe Waterweg, about 360 meters wide.

"We have been standing here since 8 p.m.," said student Denise from Rotterdam. "I had expected it to close a bit faster."

A Dutch transport ministry spokesman said water levels were expected to reach 2.84 meters above mean sea level.

Earlier forecasts had been for more than 3 meters. The flood of 1953 saw the water rise to 3.85 meters above sea level, the transport ministry said.


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"The storm conditions are very similar to 1953," the Dutch ministry spokesman said. The government weather service forecast force nine winds for parts of the Dutch coast.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071109/...itain_flood_dc