Residents of the Dutch municipality of Roermond are alarmed by the spectators who come to the areas affected by the storm. They are disaster tourists or “monkey watchers”.
Although an emergency decree, intended to prevent catastrophic tourism, went into effect, Maasboulevard Street in the Roermond suburb was extremely crowded throughout Friday. Until late at night there were countless people walking around, who hit the sidewalk wall with cars and electric bikes to photograph the marina (and themselves) with countless cell phones.
Despite complaints to the municipality, no action has yet been taken. But the municipality warns on Saturday morning of the fines. The municipality sees many disaster tourists visiting high-risk areas, according to a Facebook report from Roermond municipality. “Once again we urge everyone not to do this and to give all emergency services space to do their work,” the municipality said. There are emergency laws in several regions. If people do not comply with this, fines can be imposed.
The municipality says the waters are still rising on Saturday in Roermond. Especially the area around Willem Alexanderhaven is being watched extra. Several municipal roads have been closed. Residents were evacuated on Thursday and Friday.
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